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This episode commenced with a single photograph, possibly the most significant ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a teenage girl, while a companion grinned suggestively in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, shot at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a young woman who declared she was moved across the sea and compelled to have brief relations with a member of the royal bloodline?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had openly asserted to have never been aware of her, claimed he could never have had sex with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's money to settle a long-delayed legal case.

Over a Decade of Controversy

In this context, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This affair has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and an additional snapshot of Andrew walking pleasantly with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Self-importance: How long did his siblings, maybe even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his employees and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable companions given he openly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Journeys were printed in royal annual reports: helicopter transfers from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the arrogance which demanded subservience when he appeared in a area or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his letterheads in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely pampered him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least strip him of official roles and military positions in the consequence of his catastrophic and, we now know, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the release of biographical works giving more troubling particulars of his actions and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could avoid being untruthful about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent monarchical figures understood that. The primary concern is to hand down the institution, if not as previously at least intact and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of past sovereigns, proving they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in danger in an time when submission and secrecy is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Eventually, the well-known hesitant king was pressured more. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the narrative.

Now it is the loss of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to surrender his honorifics in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly stinging given his role in the conflict

He continues to be a counsellor of state, in principle able to act for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but none of these will truly occur.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he meets still show respect to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Might they say Sir,

Of course, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's vast estate at a monarchical property.

There, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some sort 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 adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still records in the possession of American legislators to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might parliament request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Maybe for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The message from the palace was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the king, and particularly other senior royals, sought.

Altered Approach

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the brief announcement showed evidently that the institution were aligning with the victim's narrative of occurrences.

Additionally, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are considered essential, notwithstanding the truth that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-interest and indolence that will destroy the institution. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew seems never to have grasped that lesson.