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It all began with a single photograph, arguably the most significant ever snapped of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a teenage girl, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Absent that image, taken at a party in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a adolescent who said she was transported across the sea and forced to have brief sexual encounters with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, indicative move by someone who had publicly stated to have not heard of her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of his mother's resources to resolve a protracted lawsuit.

Years of Scandal

In this context, talk of the royals acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and an additional image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his siblings, perhaps even his relatives, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his staff and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable friends given he publicly welcomed them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Travel were printed in royal annual reports: helicopter travel from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the presumption which demanded respect when he appeared in a area or the extreme obsession about his designations used on his official documents in communication to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The monarch did at least remove him of official roles and military positions in the consequence of his catastrophic and, we now know, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the release of accounts giving more disturbing particulars of his actions and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his contact with a notorious figure.

The public (and the journalists) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was no one of any significance to defend him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute monarchical figures understood that. The key objective is to transfer the institution, if not as before at least intact and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the image of previous monarchs, proving they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their subjects.

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

Aftermath

Finally, the well-known hesitant king was pressured further. There was no alternative. The royal household had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the removal of titles and the persistent and permanent public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Reduced to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The first royal to forfeit his honorifics in recent history
• Naval Career: Notably painful given his role in the engagement

He is still a constitutional officer, on paper able to substitute for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly occur.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still acknowledge him? Might they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Mr,

Naturally, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's extensive grounds at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of private allowance.

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

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the possession of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Political Pressure: Might lawmakers seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the waste of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Maybe for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The statement from the palace was plainly that the revocation of designations was what the king, and especially other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the short announcement showed plainly that the monarchy were siding with the complainant's version of events.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-seeking and inactivity that will undermine the institution. In his stupidity, self-gratification and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.