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It all began with a isolated photograph, arguably the most impactful ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a young woman, while an associate smiled knowingly in the backdrop.

Lacking that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a teenager who declared she was trafficked across the ocean and obliged to have cursory relations with a member of the monarchy?

A curious, telling action by someone who had openly asserted to have not been aware of her, claimed he could not have had sex with her, and yet provided millions of monarchical money to resolve a drawn-out lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

In this context, discussions of the royal family acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that image, and another image of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Self-importance: How long did his siblings, possibly even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his aides and the police were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable companions given he openly hosted them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Travel were printed in official documents: private aircraft transfers from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Furthermore the entitlement which expected deference when he entered a area or the supreme awareness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his associates.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who unaccountably indulged him, was still alive. The monarch did at least remove him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his disastrous and, it is now clear, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the release of books giving more troubling details of his actions and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could get away with lying about his relationship with a notorious figure.

The public (and the media) were far ahead of the royal family. There was nobody of any consequence to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals realized that. The one imperative is to hand down the monarchy, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of past sovereigns, proving they are beneficial, accountable and responsive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an era when deference and privacy is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously hesitant king was pushed additional. There was no other option. The royal household had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the loss of honorifics and the ongoing and life-long public humiliation that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The primary member to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly hurtful given his role in the Falklands war

He is still a counsellor of state, theoretically able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but neither of these will truly occur.

Future Prospects

Will people he encounters still show respect to him? Will they still slip up and call him Sir? Might they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the sovereign's vast estate at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be provided by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of private allowance.

This is not his former home, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still documents in the hands of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Could lawmakers seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the waste of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Perhaps for the present the institutional damage to the crown is limited. The narrative from the palace was evidently that the revocation of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

A Shift in Position

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the brief announcement showed clearly that the institution were aligning with the accuser's account of incidents.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed regard for the affected individuals: "The censures are considered essential, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

Finally it is presumption, self-seeking and inactivity that will undermine the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-gratification and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that truth.