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It all began with a single photograph, possibly the most significant ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while a companion smiled suggestively in the backdrop.

Lacking that photograph, captured at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a teenager who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have perfunctory relations with a individual of the royal bloodline?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had openly stated to have not been aware of her, asserted he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid millions of monarchical money to settle a drawn-out court action.

A Long Period of Scandal

Considering this, talk of the monarchy acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has endured for the majority of 15 years since that image, and a further image of Andrew strolling amiably with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Arrogance: How long did his siblings, perhaps even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his employees and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he publicly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Trips were listed in public records: private aircraft flights from the estate to a country club and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Furthermore the arrogance which expected deference when he walked into a room or the supreme consciousness about his royal titles used on his correspondence in letters to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The sovereign did at least strip him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his disastrous and, it is now clear, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the issuance of biographical works giving more troubling information of his conduct and that of his associates.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could avoid being untruthful about his contact with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the media) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to support him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The wiser family members recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least complete and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and reactive to their people.

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

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously hesitant monarch was pressured additional. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the story.

Currently the loss of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime personal shame that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Lowered to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The initial monarch to surrender his honorifics in recent history
• Armed Forces: Particularly painful given his role in the conflict

He continues to be a counsellor of state, on paper able to act for the king, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but not any of these will truly come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Might they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's vast estate at a monarchical property.

There, he will be provided by the king with one of the estate properties and given some type of financial support.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the hands of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might parliament demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Perhaps for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is contained. The statement from the royal household was plainly that the stripping of titles was what the king, and particularly other senior family members, desired.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the brief statement showed evidently that the royals were supporting the accuser's narrative of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they ultimately showed concern for the affected individuals: "The censures are judged required, despite the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Finally it is presumption, self-seeking and inactivity that will kill the monarchy. In his folly, personal excess and greed, Andrew appears never to have understood that lesson.