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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, arguably the most significant ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual beamed knowingly in the rear.

Absent that image, taken at a party in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a young woman who stated she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have perfunctory relations with a individual of the royal family?

A strange, revealing action by someone who had openly claimed to have not heard of her, claimed he could not have had relations with her, and yet provided millions of his mother's resources to avert a protracted court action.

Years of Scandal

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This affair has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and another photo of Andrew walking pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Hubris: For what duration did his siblings, perhaps even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he unabashedly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Travel were printed in royal annual reports: helicopter travel from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the arrogance which demanded subservience when he entered a area or the profound obsession about his honorifics used on his official documents in letters to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who unaccountably pampered him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the wake of his disastrous and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more troubling information of his actions and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could escape deceiving about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the journalists) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any consequence to support him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The more astute family members realized that. The key objective is to transfer the institution, if not as before at least whole and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, responsible and attentive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an time when submission and discretion is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Finally, the notoriously hesitant sovereign was pushed further. There was no alternative. The institution had relinquished authority of the account.

Now it is the stripping of designations and the persistent and life-long public humiliation that will pain Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a commoner
• Past Example: The initial monarch to forfeit his honorifics in modern times
• Armed Forces: Particularly hurtful given his service in the engagement

He remains a constitutional officer, on paper able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but not any of these will actually occur.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he comes across still acknowledge him? Might they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Might they say Sir,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the sovereign's extensive grounds at a monarchical property.

There, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of financial support.

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

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the possession of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might legislators demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the misuse of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Perhaps for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The message from the institution was clearly that the revocation of honorifics was what the king, and notably other senior royals, sought.

Changed Stance

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the concise announcement showed evidently that the institution were supporting the accuser's version of occurrences.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-interest and indolence that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew seems never to have understood that reality.