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It all began with a solitary photograph, arguably the most consequential ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a young woman, while a companion grinned suggestively in the rear.

Lacking that photograph, taken at a party in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a teenager who stated she was moved across the Atlantic and obliged to have brief sexual encounters with a prince of the royal family?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had overtly stated to have never heard of her, asserted he could no have had sex with her, and yet paid millions of monarchical money to resolve a protracted lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

In this context, discussions of the royals acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that image, and a further image of Andrew walking amiably with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his family members, possibly even his parents, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his employees and the police were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable friends given he publicly welcomed them to palaces.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Trips were documented in royal annual reports: chopper transfers from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the arrogance which required respect when he entered a room or the extreme obsession about his honorifics used on his letterheads in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The sovereign did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, we now know, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the issuance of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could escape lying about his contact with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the journalists) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any significance to support him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more astute monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to transfer the institution, if not as before at least complete and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of earlier rulers, showing they are valuable, dutiful and responsive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in peril in an age when deference and discretion is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Eventually, the famously indecisive monarch was pushed additional. There was no other option. The royal household had surrendered command of the narrative.

Now it is the removal of designations and the persistent and permanent personal shame that will pain Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The initial royal to lose his honorifics in modern times
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his role in the Falklands war

He remains a constitutional officer, theoretically able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but none of these will ever happen.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he meets still acknowledge him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Would they say Sir,

Certainly, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's large property at a royal residence.

In that place, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some type of financial support.

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Could legislators seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The narrative from the institution was clearly that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Altered Approach

The cessation of deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the short statement showed clearly that the royals were siding with the victim's version of incidents.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed consideration for the survivors: "These actions are deemed necessary, despite the truth that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

In the end it is presumption, self-interest and indolence that will destroy the institution. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew appears never to have grasped that reality.