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This episode commenced with a single photograph, possibly the most significant ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while an associate beamed knowingly in the rear.

Absent that snapshot, shot at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who stated she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have brief relations with a member of the royal family?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had openly claimed to have never been aware of her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of his mother's money to settle a long-delayed lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

Against this backdrop, talk of the monarchy acting decisively to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This controversy has continued for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and an additional photo of Andrew walking amiably with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Arrogance: How long did his family members, possibly even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his aides and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he openly invited them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Trips were documented in royal annual reports: helicopter transfers from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the arrogance which expected respect when he walked into a space or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his correspondence in communication to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least remove him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, we now know, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of biographical works giving more grim particulars of his actions and that of his connections.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could get away with deceiving about his contact with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the media) were far in advance of the royal family. There was not a single person of any significance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals understood that. The key objective is to transfer the monarchy, if not as before at least intact and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the image of previous monarchs, showing they are valuable, accountable and attentive to their subjects.

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

Consequences

Ultimately, the notoriously hesitant king was pushed further. There was no alternative. The institution had lost control of the narrative.

Now it is the loss of titles and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to surrender his titles in modern times
• Naval Career: Particularly stinging given his role in the conflict

He continues to be a counsellor of state, in principle able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but neither of these will truly come to pass.

Coming Developments

Will people he comes across still defer to him? Will they still slip up and call him Prince? Might they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the royal family's extensive grounds at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some type of personal stipend.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

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

• Political Pressure: Will legislators seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the misuse of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Maybe for the present the reputational impact to the institution is contained. The message from the institution was plainly that the removal of titles was what the monarch, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the brief statement showed evidently that the royals were aligning with the complainant's narrative of events.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed regard for the victims: "These actions are considered essential, despite the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, self-interest and indolence that will undermine the crown. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew seems never to have learned that truth.