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It all began with a single photograph, arguably the most consequential ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a female youth, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that image, captured at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a teenager who stated she was transported across the sea and forced to have brief intimate contact with a individual of the royal family?

An odd, telling move by someone who had overtly claimed to have not been aware of her, claimed he could never have had sex with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical funds to resolve a protracted court action.

A Long Period of Controversy

Against this backdrop, conversations of the monarchy acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This controversy has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and another snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, perhaps even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his aides and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he unabashedly hosted them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Travel were listed in public records: private aircraft flights from the palace to a country club and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the presumption which required respect when he appeared in a space or the supreme awareness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still alive. The Queen did at least remove him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his disastrous and, it is now clear, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the publication of biographical works giving more troubling details of his behavior and that of his companions.

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

People (and the media) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The wiser family members understood that. The one imperative is to hand down the institution, if not as before at least intact and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, dutiful and reactive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an age when deference and discretion is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Finally, the famously indecisive sovereign was pushed more. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the story.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner
• Past Example: The first monarch to forfeit his honorifics in recent history
• Military Service: Particularly stinging given his service in the Falklands war

He remains a counsellor of state, theoretically able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will truly happen.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Will they even say Mr,

Of course, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the royal family's vast estate at a royal residence.

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

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

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still files in the custody of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will lawmakers seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the improper use of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the monarchy is contained. The narrative from the palace was evidently that the revocation of titles was what the king, and notably other senior family members, sought.

Changed Stance

An end to deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the brief announcement showed clearly that the institution were supporting the complainant's account of occurrences.

Additionally, for the first time they ultimately showed concern for the affected individuals: "These actions are judged required, regardless of the truth that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-interest and indolence that will kill the institution. In his folly, self-gratification and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that reality.