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This episode commenced with a single photograph, perhaps the most significant ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while an associate grinned suggestively in the backdrop.

Absent that snapshot, taken at a party in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a young woman who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have cursory sexual encounters with a member of the royal family?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had openly stated to have never been aware of her, said he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a large amount of monarchical resources to resolve a protracted lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

In this context, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This affair has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that image, and an additional image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his siblings, perhaps even his parents, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly invited them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were documented in official documents: helicopter flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the arrogance which demanded respect when he appeared in a area or the supreme awareness about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his associates.

He could get away with it while his mother, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The monarch did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the issuance of books giving more grim information of his actions 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.

People (and the press) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to pass on the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least whole and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the image of past sovereigns, showing they are beneficial, accountable and responsive to their subjects.

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

Consequences

Finally, the notoriously indecisive king was prodded further. There was no alternative. The institution had relinquished authority of the account.

Currently the removal of designations and the continued and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The first monarch to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Especially painful given his service in the engagement

He remains a constitutional officer, in principle able to stand in for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but none of these will truly happen.

Future Prospects

Can persons he encounters still defer to him? Will they still slip up and call him Sir? Will they even say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's large estate at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be furnished by the king with one of the royal residences and given some type of personal stipend.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still records in the hands of US Congress to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might lawmakers demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the waste of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Possibly for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is restricted. The statement from the institution was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the king, and notably other senior royals, wanted.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the short statement showed evidently that the monarchy were aligning with the complainant's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed consideration for the survivors: "These actions are considered essential, regardless of the reality that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that truth.