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

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while a companion beamed conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Absent that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a young woman who said she was trafficked across the ocean and forced to have brief relations with a member of the royal family?

A curious, indicative action by someone who had openly stated to have never heard of her, said he could not have had sex with her, and yet handed over millions of his mother's funds to settle a long-delayed lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Against this backdrop, conversations of the monarchy acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and another image of Andrew ambling congenially with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his siblings, perhaps even his parents, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable associates given he unabashedly hosted them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Journeys were documented in royal annual reports: private aircraft transfers from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the arrogance which expected subservience when he appeared in a room or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his correspondence in communication to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still alive. The monarch did at least revoke him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his disastrous and, it is now clear, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the publication of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could escape lying about his contact with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was not a single person of any importance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The wiser royals recognized that. The key objective is to pass on the crown, if not as before at least intact and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are useful, responsible and reactive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an time when deference and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

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

Presently the loss of titles and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The primary royal to forfeit his designations in modern times
• Naval Career: Notably hurtful given his role in the engagement

He is still a counsellor of state, theoretically able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but not any of these will ever happen.

Future Prospects

Can persons he meets still acknowledge him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Would they say Mr,

Of course, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large grounds at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some form of financial support.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the custody of American legislators to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Could lawmakers seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the misuse of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Maybe for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The narrative from the institution was evidently that the stripping of honorifics was what the sovereign, and especially other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Changed Stance

An end to illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise statement showed evidently that the monarchy were siding with the accuser's version of incidents.

Additionally, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the survivors: "The measures are deemed necessary, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-seeking and inactivity that will undermine the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-gratification and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.