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It all began with a solitary photograph, possibly the most impactful ever captured of a royal family member.

There stood the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while a companion beamed knowingly in the backdrop.

Lacking that snapshot, shot at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a adolescent who stated she was trafficked across the Atlantic and obliged to have cursory relations with a member of the royal bloodline?

A curious, indicative action by someone who had publicly asserted to have never known about her, claimed he could never have had relations with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of his mother's money to avert a drawn-out legal case.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, talk of the royal family acting decisively to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and an additional photo of Andrew strolling amiably with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his family members, maybe even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his employees and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable associates given he openly welcomed them to palaces.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Travel were listed in official documents: private aircraft transfers from the palace to a country club and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Additionally the arrogance which demanded subservience when he walked into a room or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his official documents in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still alive. The monarch did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the consequence of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the publication of books giving more grim details of his actions and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could escape lying about his contact with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the media) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent family members realized that. The key objective is to transfer the institution, if not as previously at least intact and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of past sovereigns, showing they are beneficial, accountable and reactive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in peril in an age when submission and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Finally, the famously hesitant king was prodded additional. There was no other option. The palace had surrendered command of the account.

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

• Downgrading: Reduced to just a commoner
• Past Example: The primary member to surrender his honorifics in modern times
• Military Service: Particularly hurtful given his service in the Falklands war

He is still a counsellor of state, in principle able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but not any of these will truly occur.

Future Prospects

Will people he comes across still show respect to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Mr,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's large estate at a monarchical property.

There, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some type of financial support.

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

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could parliament demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Possibly for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is limited. The message from the royal household was evidently that the stripping of honorifics was what the sovereign, and especially other senior royals, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the short communication showed plainly that the institution were supporting the victim's version of incidents.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "The measures are considered essential, notwithstanding the fact that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, selfishness and inactivity that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, personal excess and venality, Andrew appears never to have understood that lesson.