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It all began with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever snapped of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Lacking that photograph, captured at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a adolescent who declared she was trafficked across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory relations with a member of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative move by someone who had overtly claimed to have not heard of her, claimed he could no have had sex with her, and yet paid millions of his mother's funds to avert a drawn-out lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Against this backdrop, talk of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This scandal has continued for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew strolling congenially with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Hubris: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he unabashedly hosted them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Journeys were printed in public records: private aircraft transfers from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the arrogance which required respect when he entered a area or the profound consciousness about his designations used on his correspondence in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who inexplicably pampered him, was still living. The Queen did at least strip him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, untruthful television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of biographical works giving more disturbing information of his actions and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

People (and the media) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any consequence to support him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent royals realized that. The key objective is to transfer the institution, if not as previously at least complete and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of previous monarchs, showing they are useful, dutiful and attentive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an era when deference and discretion is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Finally, the well-known hesitant sovereign was pressured further. There was no alternative. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the ongoing and life-long social disgrace that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The initial monarch to forfeit his titles in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his role in the conflict

He continues to be a royal advisor, on paper able to act for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but not any of these will truly happen.

Coming Developments

Can persons he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Mr,

Of course, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large estate at a royal residence.

There, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of private allowance.

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still records in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Might parliament demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Maybe for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is contained. The statement from the institution was plainly that the revocation of designations was what the sovereign, and notably other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

No more illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise statement showed evidently that the institution were siding with the complainant's account of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the first time they eventually showed concern for the survivors: "The measures are judged required, despite the reality that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

In the end it is entitlement, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that reality.