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It all began with a single photograph, arguably the most significant ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a female youth, while another individual grinned suggestively in the backdrop.

Lacking that photograph, taken at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a teenager who declared she was transported across the ocean and compelled to have brief relations with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A curious, telling gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have never been aware of her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of his mother's funds to settle a protracted lawsuit.

A Long Period of Scandal

In this context, discussions of the royals acting decisively to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has endured for the better part of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew strolling amiably with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his siblings, possibly even his parents, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his employees and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable companions given he publicly welcomed them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Journeys were documented in royal annual reports: chopper travel from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the presumption which demanded respect when he walked into a room or the supreme consciousness about his royal titles used on his official documents in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The monarch did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, we now know, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling information of his behavior and that of his companions.

More information have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could avoid deceiving about his contact with a disgraced individual.

People (and the press) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more astute monarchical figures realized that. The key objective is to hand down the monarchy, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

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

His actions endangered all that in peril in an era when deference and privacy is no longer sufficient.

The Fallout

Finally, the notoriously hesitant monarch was prodded further. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the story.

Currently the stripping of designations and the ongoing and lifetime social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to lose his honorifics in recent history
• Military Service: Particularly hurtful given his role in the conflict

He is still a constitutional officer, in principle able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but not any of these will ever occur.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he meets still acknowledge him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Might they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's vast grounds at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the custody of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might legislators seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the waste of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Perhaps for the time being the institutional damage to the monarchy is limited. The narrative from the royal household was clearly that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and especially other senior family members, sought.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the concise announcement showed clearly that the institution were siding with the complainant's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed concern for the victims: "The censures are judged required, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

In the end it is entitlement, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the institution. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.