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The saga started with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a young woman, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a teenager who stated she was transported across the sea and compelled to have perfunctory intimate contact with a prince of the royal family?

A strange, revealing gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have not been aware of her, claimed he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of family money to avert a long-delayed lawsuit.

Years of Controversy

Against this backdrop, talk of the royals acting firmly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This scandal has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and a further snapshot of Andrew walking amiably with a notorious individual came to light.

• Self-importance: How long did his siblings, possibly even his parents, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his staff and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable companions given he unabashedly invited them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Travel were listed in public records: chopper travel from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the arrogance which demanded subservience when he walked into a space or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who strangely pampered him, was still alive. The Queen did at least revoke him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the consequence of his catastrophic and, as revealed, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of accounts giving more grim details of his behavior and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his contact with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to support him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent monarchical figures recognized that. The primary concern is to pass on the monarchy, if not as previously at least complete and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and attentive to their subjects.

Andrew was putting all that in peril in an age when submission and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Eventually, the famously indecisive monarch was prodded further. There was little choice. The institution had surrendered command of the account.

Currently the stripping of honorifics and the persistent and permanent personal shame that will afflict Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The initial monarch to lose his honorifics in modern times
• Military Service: Particularly stinging given his service in the Falklands war

He is still a royal advisor, on paper able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but not any of these will truly occur.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he encounters still show respect to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Would they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's large property at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be furnished by the king with one of the estate properties and given some type of personal stipend.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the custody of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will legislators request additional information
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Maybe for the present the harm to the monarchy to the crown is limited. The narrative from the palace was plainly that the revocation of honorifics was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior royals, sought.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the brief announcement showed evidently that the monarchy were supporting the complainant's version of events.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed regard for the victims: "These actions are considered essential, regardless of the reality that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-seeking and indolence that will undermine the institution. In his foolishness, self-gratification and greed, Andrew appears never to have grasped that truth.