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The saga started with a solitary photograph, arguably the most consequential ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the rear.

Absent that photograph, shot at a party in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a adolescent who declared she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have brief sexual encounters with a individual of the royal family?

An odd, revealing gesture by someone who had publicly claimed to have never heard of her, asserted he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a large amount of family resources to settle a drawn-out legal case.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Considering this, discussions of the monarchy acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This affair has endured for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and another image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he publicly hosted them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Travel were documented in official documents: private aircraft flights from the palace to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the entitlement which demanded subservience when he entered a room or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in letters to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who inexplicably pampered him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the release of biographical works giving more grim particulars of his behavior and that of his associates.

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

Society (and the media) were far ahead of the royals. There was no one of any consequence to support him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more astute family members understood that. The one imperative is to pass on the crown, if not as previously at least intact and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are valuable, responsible and responsive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an time when submission and privacy is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Ultimately, the notoriously indecisive sovereign was pushed further. There was no other option. The royal household had lost control of the account.

Now it is the loss of designations and the continued and permanent social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Reduced to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The primary monarch to surrender his designations in modern times
• Naval Career: Notably stinging given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a constitutional officer, theoretically able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but none of these will actually come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Would they say Sir,

Of course, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the sovereign's vast grounds at a royal residence.

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

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of US Congress to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could legislators demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the waste of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Possibly for the present the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is restricted. The narrative from the palace was clearly that the removal of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the brief statement showed plainly that the monarchy were supporting the victim's account of incidents.

Even more, for the initial instance they ultimately showed consideration for the survivors: "The measures are deemed necessary, despite the reality that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Finally it is entitlement, self-seeking and indolence that will undermine the crown. In his foolishness, self-gratification and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that truth.