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

Present was the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a female youth, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the rear.

Absent that image, captured at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a young woman who said she was trafficked across the ocean and forced to have brief intimate contact with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A curious, telling action by someone who had openly claimed to have not known about her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of his mother's resources to avert a protracted legal case.

Years of Scandal

In this context, conversations of the monarchy acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has endured for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his aides and the police were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable friends given he unabashedly invited them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were documented in public records: private aircraft transfers from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the presumption which demanded subservience when he entered a room or the supreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The Queen did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of books giving more troubling information of his conduct and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could escape lying about his contact with a disgraced individual.

People (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was no one of any importance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more astute family members realized that. The primary concern is to transfer the institution, if not as heretofore at least complete and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of previous monarchs, showing they are valuable, dutiful and reactive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in danger in an time when submission and privacy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Eventually, the well-known hesitant sovereign was pressured further. There was no other option. The royal household had lost control of the story.

Currently the loss of honorifics and the ongoing and permanent social disgrace that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Reduced to just a commoner
• Past Example: The primary member to forfeit his titles in modern times
• Naval Career: Particularly painful given his duty in the engagement

He is still a royal advisor, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but not any of these will ever occur.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Might they still slip up and call him Prince? Will they even say Sir,

Naturally, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the monarchy's vast property at Sandringham.

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

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

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

• Political Pressure: Might parliament seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the improper use of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the moment the institutional damage to the monarchy is contained. The message from the palace was clearly that the revocation of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, desired.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the brief statement showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the victim's version of incidents.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Finally it is presumption, selfishness and inactivity that will destroy the monarchy. In his folly, self-gratification and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that reality.