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This episode commenced with a single photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Duke of York, with his arm around a female youth, while another individual grinned knowingly in the rear.

Without that image, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a adolescent who said she was trafficked across the ocean and forced to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, revealing action by someone who had publicly claimed to have no heard of her, asserted he could never have had sex with her, and yet handed over millions of his mother's money to settle a protracted court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

In this context, discussions of the royal family acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional photo of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his family members, maybe even his parents, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his staff and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he publicly hosted them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were listed in official documents: chopper transfers from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the presumption which demanded subservience when he entered a space or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who strangely pampered him, was still living. The Queen did at least strip him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his disastrous and, it is now clear, untruthful television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the publication of accounts giving more disturbing information of his behavior and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could escape lying about his contact with a notorious figure.

Society (and the press) were far in advance of the royals. There was not a single person of any consequence to support him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The wiser monarchical figures recognized that. The primary concern is to transfer the institution, if not as previously at least intact and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are valuable, dutiful and reactive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in danger in an era when submission and discretion is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Finally, the notoriously uncertain king was pressured additional. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the account.

Currently the stripping of designations and the ongoing and lifetime personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Lowered to just a commoner
• Past Example: The primary member to lose his titles in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his service in the conflict

He continues to be a royal advisor, in principle able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but none of these will truly occur.

Coming Developments

Can persons he meets still acknowledge him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Would they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large estate at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be provided by the king with one of the estate properties and given some sort of personal stipend.

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

Unresolved Issues

The situation continues. There are still files in the custody of American legislators to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might lawmakers seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the waste of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Perhaps for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is limited. The narrative from the institution was plainly that the revocation of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior family members, wanted.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the brief communication showed plainly that the monarchy were aligning with the victim's account of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the first time they eventually showed regard for the survivors: "The censures are judged required, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-interest and indolence that will destroy the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew appears never to have learned that lesson.