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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, possibly the most significant ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a young woman, while another individual grinned suggestively in the backdrop.

Absent that image, taken at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have perfunctory intimate contact with a member of the royal bloodline?

A curious, revealing gesture by someone who had openly claimed to have never heard of her, asserted he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's funds to resolve a protracted legal case.

Years of Controversy

Against this backdrop, talk of the monarchy acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has endured for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and a further snapshot of Andrew strolling amiably with a notorious individual came to light.

• Self-importance: How long did his siblings, perhaps even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he openly welcomed them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Journeys were listed in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the arrogance which expected subservience when he entered a space or the extreme obsession about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least remove him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his disastrous and, as revealed, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the issuance of accounts giving more grim details of his behavior and that of his connections.

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

People (and the press) were far in advance of the royal family. There was not a single person of any importance to support him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent family members recognized that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as heretofore at least whole and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the image of earlier rulers, showing they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an time when deference and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Ultimately, the notoriously hesitant king was pressured additional. There was no alternative. The palace had surrendered command of the account.

Now it is the stripping of titles and the continued and life-long public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The primary monarch to forfeit his designations in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially stinging given his service in the engagement

He remains a royal advisor, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but neither of these will ever happen.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he encounters still defer to him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Might they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's large estate at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some form of private allowance.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could lawmakers seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the waste of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The narrative from the institution was clearly that the stripping of honorifics was what the king, and notably other senior royals, sought.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the concise statement showed evidently that the institution were siding with the complainant's version of incidents.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they finally showed concern for the survivors: "These actions are considered essential, despite the fact that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the crown. In his stupidity, personal excess and corruption, Andrew seems never to have understood that lesson.