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It all began with a solitary photograph, possibly the most significant ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a young woman, while an associate beamed suggestively in the rear.

Without that snapshot, taken at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who said she was transported across the sea and forced to have cursory intimate contact with a prince of the monarchy?

A strange, telling move by someone who had openly stated to have never heard of her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of monarchical money to resolve a drawn-out legal case.

Years of Controversy

Against this backdrop, talk of the royal family acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This scandal has endured for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and an additional photo of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Arrogance: How long did his family members, maybe even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the police were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable associates given he openly invited them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were listed in public records: helicopter transfers from the palace to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the arrogance which required deference when he entered a area or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his official documents in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who unaccountably indulged him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the wake of his disastrous and, it is now clear, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of biographical works giving more grim details of his actions and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was nobody of any importance to defend 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 before at least whole and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of earlier rulers, showing they are valuable, accountable and responsive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an era when respect and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Finally, the notoriously indecisive king was prodded additional. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the story.

Now it is the stripping of honorifics and the ongoing and life-long social disgrace that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The initial royal to surrender his titles in recent history
• Armed Forces: Notably painful given his duty in the conflict

He continues to be a constitutional officer, on paper able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but none of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Might they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's large property at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some sort of personal stipend.

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

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the possession of US Congress to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Could lawmakers request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the monarchy is limited. The statement from the royal household was clearly that the removal of titles was what the king, and especially other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Changed Stance

An end to deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the short announcement showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the complainant's account of events.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed consideration for the survivors: "The censures are deemed necessary, regardless of the fact that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-interest and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his stupidity, personal excess and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that truth.