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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, possibly the most significant ever snapped of a royal family member.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate beamed conspiratorially in the rear.

Lacking that photograph, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who said she was moved across the sea and forced to have perfunctory relations with a prince of the monarchy?

A curious, revealing gesture by someone who had overtly stated to have no been aware of her, claimed he could no have had sex with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of family resources to settle a drawn-out legal case.

A Long Period of Scandal

Considering this, conversations of the royal family acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew strolling amiably with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Arrogance: How long did his family members, maybe even his parents, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his employees and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he unabashedly hosted them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Travel were printed in official documents: chopper travel from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the arrogance which expected deference when he entered a room or the supreme obsession about his designations used on his letterheads in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the publication of biographical works giving more disturbing information of his behavior and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could escape lying about his relationship with a notorious figure.

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

Royal Worries

The wiser family members recognized that. The one imperative is to pass on the crown, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of earlier rulers, proving they are beneficial, accountable and attentive to their people.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an era when deference and discretion is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Finally, the notoriously indecisive king was prodded more. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the story.

Now it is the loss of titles and the persistent and permanent public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The initial monarch to surrender his designations in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Particularly stinging given his duty in the engagement

He remains a constitutional officer, on paper able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but not any of these will ever happen.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Will they even say Sir,

Of course, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large grounds at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be supplied by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of personal stipend.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the custody of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Political Pressure: Could lawmakers request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the improper use of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Possibly for the time being the institutional damage to the institution is restricted. The statement from the royal household was plainly that the revocation of designations was what the king, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise announcement showed clearly that the royals were siding with the accuser's account of occurrences.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed regard for the survivors: "The censures are judged required, regardless of the fact that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will kill the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-gratification and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.