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The saga started with a single photograph, arguably the most impactful ever captured of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a teenage girl, while an associate smiled knowingly in the background.

Without that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who said she was transported across the sea and compelled to have brief intimate contact with a member of the royal family?

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

A Long Period of Scandal

Considering this, conversations of the monarchy acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This scandal has endured for the majority of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his siblings, perhaps even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his employees and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly invited them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were documented in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which expected subservience when he entered a space or the profound consciousness about his designations used on his letterheads in messages to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The Queen did at least strip him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his disastrous and, as revealed, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the publication of books giving more troubling details of his conduct and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could get away with lying about his interaction with a notorious figure.

The public (and the press) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was nobody of any consequence to defend him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent royals understood that. The one imperative is to pass on the institution, if not as heretofore at least complete and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of past sovereigns, proving they are useful, responsible and responsive to their citizens.

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

Aftermath

Ultimately, the famously indecisive king was prodded additional. There was no alternative. The institution had relinquished authority of the story.

Presently the removal of titles and the ongoing and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The first royal to forfeit his designations in modern times
• Armed Forces: Notably painful given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a royal advisor, on paper able to act for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but none of these will truly come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still show respect to him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Might they say Mr,

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the sovereign's vast estate at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some type of private allowance.

This is not his former home, where he paid a token payment 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 possession of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will parliament request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Perhaps for the present the institutional damage to the institution is contained. The narrative from the institution was plainly that the removal of honorifics was what the sovereign, and notably other senior royals, desired.

Changed Stance

No more deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the short statement showed evidently that the institution were siding with the accuser's account of events.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed concern for the affected individuals: "These actions are deemed necessary, regardless of the fact that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, self-interest and laziness that will undermine the crown. In his foolishness, self-gratification and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.