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

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual grinned knowingly in the rear.

Absent that snapshot, captured at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who stated she was transported across the Atlantic and forced to have cursory intimate contact with a individual of the royal family?

A strange, revealing move by someone who had openly claimed to have no been aware of her, asserted he could not have had sex with her, and yet handed over a large amount of monarchical funds to avert a drawn-out court action.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Considering this, discussions of the royal family acting decisively to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and another snapshot of Andrew walking amiably with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Hubris: How long did his siblings, perhaps even his parents, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his aides and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he unabashedly hosted them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Trips were listed in public records: helicopter travel from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the presumption which expected subservience when he appeared in a space or the profound consciousness about his designations used on his official documents in communication to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who unaccountably indulged him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the release of biographical works giving more grim particulars of his actions and that of his associates.

More information have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with deceiving about his contact with a disgraced individual.

People (and the journalists) were far in advance of the royals. There was not a single person of any consequence to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent monarchical figures realized that. The one imperative is to pass on the institution, if not as previously at least complete and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of earlier rulers, showing they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their people.

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

The Fallout

Eventually, the notoriously indecisive king was pressured further. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the account.

Now it is the stripping of designations and the persistent and life-long social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Reduction: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The initial monarch to lose his designations in recent history
• Military Service: Particularly stinging given his role in the Falklands war

He remains a royal advisor, in principle able to act for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly happen.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he encounters still acknowledge him? Might they still slip up and call him Prince? Will they even say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's vast grounds at a monarchical property.

There, he will be supplied by the king with one of the royal residences and given some sort of personal stipend.

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

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still documents in the possession of US Congress to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might legislators demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Possibly for the time being the institutional damage to the monarchy is contained. The statement from the institution was plainly that the stripping of honorifics was what the king, and notably other senior family members, sought.

A Shift in Position

No more deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the short statement showed plainly that the royals were siding with the accuser's version of incidents.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed consideration for the victims: "The measures are considered essential, regardless of the fact that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, self-interest and laziness that will undermine the crown. In his foolishness, self-gratification and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that truth.