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This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, possibly the most consequential ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a female youth, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Without that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a young woman who said she was trafficked across the sea and forced to have cursory sexual encounters with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A curious, indicative action by someone who had publicly stated to have not been aware of her, claimed he could no have had sex with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of family resources to settle a long-delayed legal case.

Over a Decade of Controversy

In this context, talk of the monarchy acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This affair has endured for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and a further photo of Andrew ambling amiably with a notorious individual emerged.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his family members, perhaps even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his employees and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he unabashedly welcomed them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Travel were documented in royal annual reports: private aircraft transfers from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which expected subservience when he appeared in a area or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his letterheads in messages to his friends.

He could get away with it while his mother, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least revoke him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his disastrous and, we now know, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the release of books giving more troubling information of his actions and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with deceiving about his interaction with a notorious figure.

Society (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was nobody of any consequence to speak up for him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute family members realized that. The key objective is to hand down the institution, if not as before at least intact and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are useful, accountable and responsive to their people.

He was placing all that in danger in an era when submission and privacy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Finally, the famously indecisive king was pressured further. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the story.

Now it is the stripping of honorifics and the persistent and permanent personal shame that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The primary member to lose his honorifics in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his role in the conflict

He continues to be a royal advisor, on paper able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but neither of these will actually occur.

Future Prospects

Will people he comes across still defer to him? Will they still slip up and call him Prince? Would they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's vast grounds at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some type of private allowance.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a nominal payment 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 custody of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could legislators seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the waste of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Perhaps for the moment the institutional damage to the crown is restricted. The statement from the institution was plainly that the stripping of titles was what the sovereign, and especially other senior family members, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the short announcement showed clearly that the royals were supporting the accuser's version of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "The measures are considered essential, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, self-interest and inactivity that will undermine the institution. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew appears never to have understood that reality.