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It all began with a single photograph, possibly the most impactful ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while an associate smiled knowingly in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, captured at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the claims of a adolescent who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory relations with a prince of the monarchy?

An odd, telling gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have not heard of her, asserted he could not have had relations with her, and yet provided a large amount of family funds to resolve a protracted court action.

Years of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, discussions of the royals acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and another photo of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his siblings, maybe even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his staff and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable associates given he unabashedly hosted them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Trips were listed in official documents: helicopter transfers from the estate to a country club and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the arrogance which demanded deference when he walked into a area or the extreme awareness about his honorifics used on his official documents in letters to his friends.

He could get away with it while his mother, who inexplicably pampered him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least strip him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, we now know, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more troubling details of his conduct and that of his associates.

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

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

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent royals understood that. The key objective is to transfer the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least whole and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are valuable, accountable and reactive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in danger in an time when respect and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Finally, the well-known hesitant monarch was pushed more. There was little choice. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Currently the removal of honorifics and the ongoing and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The primary monarch to forfeit his designations in contemporary era
• Military Service: Notably hurtful given his service in the conflict

He continues to be a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but none of these will actually happen.

Future Prospects

Will people he meets still show respect to him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Will they even say Sir,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the monarchy's large grounds at a royal residence.

In that place, he will be provided by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of financial support.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still records in the possession of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Might lawmakers seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Possibly for the moment the institutional damage to the crown is restricted. The narrative from the palace was evidently that the stripping of titles was what the king, and especially other senior family members, sought.

Changed Stance

No more deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the concise announcement showed clearly that the institution were siding with the accuser's version of incidents.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-interest and inactivity that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew seems never to have learned that truth.