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This episode commenced with a single photograph, possibly the most impactful ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Duke of York, with his arm around a teenage girl, while a companion beamed conspiratorially in the rear.

Without that snapshot, taken at a party in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a teenager who stated she was transported across the Atlantic and forced to have cursory relations with a individual of the monarchy?

A curious, revealing action by someone who had publicly asserted to have never been aware of her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of monarchical resources to resolve a drawn-out court action.

Years of Controversy

In this context, discussions of the royals acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This affair has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling congenially with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his employees and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he publicly hosted them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Travel were listed in official documents: chopper transfers from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the arrogance which demanded deference when he appeared in a room or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his correspondence in letters to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who unaccountably indulged him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the release of accounts giving more grim details of his actions and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with deceiving about his interaction with a notorious figure.

People (and the media) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any significance to support him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more astute royals realized that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of earlier rulers, proving they are beneficial, responsible and attentive to their people.

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

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously indecisive monarch was pressured further. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the account.

Currently the removal of honorifics and the ongoing and life-long personal shame that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The primary member to lose his titles in modern times
• Military Service: Especially hurtful given his role in the engagement

He remains a royal advisor, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but none of these will actually happen.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he meets still defer to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Sir,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the royal family's vast grounds at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be furnished by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of private allowance.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the custody of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Might legislators demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the waste of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Possibly for the time being the reputational impact to the monarchy is restricted. The statement from the institution was clearly that the removal of titles was what the monarch, and especially other senior family members, desired.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the brief communication showed clearly that the monarchy were aligning with the victim's version of events.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed concern for the victims: "The measures are considered essential, despite the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

In the end it is presumption, self-seeking and laziness that will kill the crown. In his foolishness, personal excess and corruption, Andrew seems never to have learned that truth.