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The saga started with a isolated photograph, arguably the most consequential ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion grinned knowingly in the rear.

Lacking that image, shot at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a adolescent who stated she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A curious, telling action by someone who had openly claimed to have no known about her, asserted he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical funds to resolve a drawn-out lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

Considering this, discussions of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This controversy has endured for the majority of 15 years since that image, and an additional snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Arrogance: How long did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his employees and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he openly welcomed them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Travel were documented in official documents: private aircraft travel from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Additionally the presumption which required subservience when he walked into a room or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The Queen did at least revoke him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the release of biographical works giving more grim details of his behavior and that of his associates.

More information have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid lying about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

Society (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 arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals understood that. The one imperative is to transfer the institution, if not as previously at least whole and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, proving they are beneficial, responsible and responsive to their subjects.

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

The Fallout

Finally, the notoriously uncertain king was pushed additional. There was little choice. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Presently the stripping of honorifics and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The initial monarch to surrender his titles in modern times
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his service in the Falklands war

He is still a royal advisor, in principle able to act for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but neither of these will truly come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he meets still defer to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Will they even say Mr,

Certainly, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the royal family's extensive estate at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the king with one of the royal residences and given some form of financial support.

It is not his previous residence, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still documents in the custody of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could lawmakers request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the misuse of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The statement from the palace was plainly that the removal of designations was what the monarch, and especially other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

Altered Approach

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the short communication showed plainly that the institution were supporting the complainant's version of events.

Even more, for the first time they eventually showed regard for the survivors: "The censures are judged required, regardless of the fact that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, selfishness and laziness that will undermine the institution. In his foolishness, personal excess and greed, Andrew appears never to have learned that truth.