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

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate beamed suggestively in the background.

Lacking that image, taken at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a adolescent who said she was moved across the sea and forced to have brief relations with a member of the royal family?

A strange, indicative move by someone who had publicly asserted to have never known about her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet handed over a large amount of monarchical resources to resolve a protracted legal case.

Years of Scandal

In this context, discussions of the royals acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and another image of Andrew ambling amiably with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Arrogance: How long did his family members, maybe even his parents, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly welcomed them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Journeys were printed in official documents: private aircraft flights from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the presumption which demanded respect when he walked into a area or the supreme awareness about his designations used on his letterheads in letters to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The Queen did at least revoke him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the release of books giving more disturbing information of his behavior and that of his associates.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could escape deceiving about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

People (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royal family. There was no one of any consequence to speak up for him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser royals understood that. The one imperative is to pass on the monarchy, if not as previously at least intact and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are valuable, dutiful and reactive to their citizens.

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

The Fallout

Eventually, the notoriously indecisive monarch was pushed additional. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the narrative.

Now it is the stripping of titles and the persistent and permanent public humiliation that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a commoner
• Past Example: The first royal to forfeit his titles in modern times
• Naval Career: Notably stinging given his duty in the Falklands war

He continues to be a counsellor of state, on paper able to act for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but not any of these will truly occur.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Would they say Sir,

Certainly, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's extensive property at a monarchical property.

There, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

It is not his former home, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still records in the possession of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will lawmakers request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the waste of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the monarchy is limited. The narrative from the royal household was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the monarch, and especially other senior family members, wanted.

Changed Stance

No more deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the brief communication showed plainly that the institution were supporting the accuser's account of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they eventually showed consideration for the victims: "These actions are judged required, despite the reality that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is presumption, self-interest and indolence that will kill the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-gratification and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that reality.