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It all began with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever captured of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Absent that snapshot, captured at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a teenager who stated she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have perfunctory relations with a prince of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative move by someone who had overtly claimed to have never known about her, said he could never have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of family money to settle a long-delayed lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

In this context, conversations of the royals acting firmly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This controversy has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his staff and the police were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he openly invited them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Travel were printed in royal annual reports: private aircraft flights from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Then there was the entitlement which demanded subservience when he entered a space or the supreme obsession about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still alive. The monarch did at least remove him of public duties and military positions in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, we now know, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the publication of books giving more grim details of his actions and that of his associates.

More information have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid lying about his contact with a notorious figure.

Society (and the journalists) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The wiser monarchical figures realized that. The key objective is to transfer the crown, if not as previously at least intact and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of previous monarchs, proving they are valuable, dutiful and responsive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an age when respect and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Ultimately, the notoriously indecisive king was prodded more. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the story.

Currently the stripping of titles and the persistent and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a commoner
• Past Example: The first member to lose his designations in modern times
• Military Service: Notably painful given his service in the Falklands war

He remains a constitutional officer, on paper able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but neither of these will ever happen.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he meets still defer to him? Will they still slip up and call him Prince? Will they even say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the royal family's vast grounds at a royal residence.

There, he will be furnished by the king with one of the royal residences and given some form of financial support.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still records in the hands of American legislators to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will lawmakers request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the misuse of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the monarchy is restricted. The message from the institution was clearly that the stripping of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, sought.

Changed Stance

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the brief statement showed clearly that the institution were siding with the complainant's account of incidents.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed consideration for the affected individuals: "These actions are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, self-interest and indolence that will undermine the monarchy. In his folly, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.