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It all began with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while an associate beamed conspiratorially in the background.

Absent that photograph, captured at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a teenager who stated she was transported across the sea and forced to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a member of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative gesture by someone who had openly claimed to have no known about her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet handed over a large amount of his mother's funds to avert a protracted lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

Considering this, conversations of the royals acting decisively to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This scandal has continued for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and a further photo of Andrew walking amiably with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Hubris: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his parents, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his aides and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly hosted them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in royal annual reports: private aircraft flights from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which demanded respect when he walked into a area or the supreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his official documents in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his parent, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least strip him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the consequence of his catastrophic and, as revealed, untruthful television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more grim details of his behavior and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his contact with a notorious figure.

Society (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royals. There was not a single person of any significance to defend him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more astute family members realized that. The key objective is to transfer the institution, if not as heretofore at least whole and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are valuable, dutiful and attentive to their people.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an time when respect and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Finally, the famously indecisive sovereign was pushed further. There was little choice. The palace had surrendered command of the narrative.

Now it is the stripping of titles and the ongoing and life-long public humiliation that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The first monarch to lose his honorifics in recent history
• Military Service: Especially painful given his duty in the engagement

He continues to be a royal advisor, theoretically able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but none of these will ever happen.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he encounters still show respect to him? Will they still slip up and call him Sir? Will they even say Andrew,

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

There, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still files in the hands of US Congress to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could lawmakers seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the improper use of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Perhaps for the moment the institutional damage to the crown is contained. The statement from the palace was evidently that the revocation of designations was what the king, and notably other senior royals, sought.

Changed Stance

An end to deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed plainly that the royals were supporting the complainant's version of occurrences.

Even more, for the initial instance they ultimately showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The censures are deemed necessary, despite the reality that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

In the end it is entitlement, self-seeking and laziness that will destroy the crown. In his foolishness, self-gratification and greed, Andrew appears never to have learned that truth.