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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, arguably the most significant ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a young woman, while a companion beamed suggestively in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, shot at a party in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a teenager who said she was trafficked across the sea and obliged to have brief intimate contact with a member of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative move by someone who had openly asserted to have not been aware of her, claimed he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of monarchical funds to resolve a protracted court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Considering this, discussions of the monarchy acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has endured for the majority of 15 years since that image, and a further photo of Andrew ambling amiably with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: To what extent did his siblings, maybe even his parents, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he unabashedly hosted them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Trips were listed in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the palace to a country club and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the presumption which demanded subservience when he appeared in a area or the profound consciousness about his designations used on his correspondence in letters to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who unaccountably pampered him, was still alive. The Queen did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the release of books giving more disturbing details of his actions and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with deceiving about his contact with a notorious figure.

People (and the media) were far ahead of the royal family. There was no one of any significance to support him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The wiser monarchical figures realized that. The key objective is to pass on the crown, if not as previously at least whole and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, dutiful and reactive to their people.

He was placing all that in peril in an time when deference and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

The Fallout

Finally, the notoriously uncertain king was pushed more. There was no other option. The royal household had surrendered command of the story.

Presently the stripping of designations and the continued and life-long public humiliation that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to lose his designations in recent history
• Naval Career: Particularly stinging 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 lineage to the crown, but neither of these will truly come to pass.

Future Prospects

Can persons he encounters still acknowledge him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Might they say Mr,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's large estate at Sandringham.

There, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some type of private allowance.

This is not his former home, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the possession of US Congress to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the waste of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Maybe for the time being the institutional damage to the crown is limited. The message from the institution was clearly that the stripping of honorifics was what the monarch, and especially other senior family members, desired.

A Shift in Position

An end to pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the short announcement showed clearly that the institution were supporting the victim's account of events.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the survivors: "The measures are considered essential, despite the reality that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will destroy the crown. In his folly, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew seems never to have learned that reality.