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The saga started with a isolated photograph, arguably the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a female youth, while a companion beamed knowingly in the background.

Absent that image, taken at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a teenager who stated she was moved across the ocean and obliged to have cursory intimate contact with a individual of the monarchy?

An odd, telling action by someone who had publicly asserted to have not heard of her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of family money to settle a protracted lawsuit.

Years of Controversy

Considering this, talk of the royal family acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and another photo of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Hubris: How long did his siblings, perhaps even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable associates given he openly invited them to palaces.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Trips were printed in public records: helicopter travel from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which expected subservience when he entered a room or the profound consciousness about his designations used on his correspondence in letters to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least strip him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his ill-fated and, we now know, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the issuance of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his behavior and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his interaction with a notorious figure.

The public (and the media) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The wiser royals recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as before at least whole and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, showing they are valuable, responsible and responsive to their citizens.

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

Consequences

Eventually, the famously uncertain king was prodded further. There was no other option. The royal household had lost control of the narrative.

Presently the removal of titles and the continued and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The initial royal to surrender his titles in modern times
• Naval Career: Notably painful given his role in the conflict

He is still a royal advisor, theoretically able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but not any of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Will people he meets still defer to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Mr,

Naturally, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the sovereign's extensive grounds at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some type of personal stipend.

It is not his former home, where he paid a minimal payment 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 possession of US Congress to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might parliament seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Possibly for the present the harm to the monarchy to the crown is limited. The statement from the institution was plainly that the removal of designations was what the sovereign, and especially other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

No more pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the brief communication showed clearly that the royals were supporting the accuser's account of incidents.

Even more, for the first time they eventually showed regard for the survivors: "The measures are deemed necessary, regardless of the truth that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, selfishness and inactivity that will kill the crown. In his folly, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that lesson.