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

There stood the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate smiled suggestively in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a young woman who declared she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have cursory relations with a member of the royal family?

A strange, telling action by someone who had publicly claimed to have never heard of her, claimed he could never have had sex with her, and yet provided a large amount of monarchical money to settle a long-delayed lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Considering this, conversations of the monarchy acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and an additional image of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, perhaps even his parents, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his employees and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he publicly invited them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Travel were printed in royal annual reports: helicopter flights from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the entitlement which expected subservience when he entered a room or the profound consciousness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who unaccountably pampered him, was still living. The Queen did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the release of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his companions.

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

The public (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royal family. There was nobody of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent family members understood that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as previously at least intact and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of past sovereigns, showing they are useful, responsible and responsive to their people.

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

Aftermath

Finally, the well-known hesitant sovereign was pushed further. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the narrative.

Presently the loss of designations and the persistent and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The first royal to forfeit his honorifics in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Especially stinging given his duty in the Falklands war

He remains a constitutional officer, theoretically able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but not any of these will truly happen.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he encounters still acknowledge him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Would they say Mr,

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

At that location, he will be furnished by the king with one of the estate properties and given some type of private allowance.

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still documents in the custody of American legislators to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Possibly for the present the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The message from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of titles was what the monarch, and particularly other senior family members, sought.

A Shift in Position

An end to illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise communication showed clearly that the royals were supporting the accuser's account of occurrences.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed regard for the survivors: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is presumption, self-seeking and indolence that will undermine the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.