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It all began with a single photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever captured of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while an associate beamed conspiratorially in the background.

Without that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a teenager who stated she was transported across the ocean and obliged to have cursory sexual encounters with a prince of the royal family?

A curious, telling gesture by someone who had openly asserted to have not heard of her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet handed over millions of his mother's resources to settle a protracted court action.

Years of Scandal

In this context, discussions of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that image, and a further photo of Andrew ambling congenially with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his family members, perhaps even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his aides and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he unabashedly invited them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Travel were listed in official documents: helicopter transfers from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the entitlement which expected subservience when he appeared in a room or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who unaccountably pampered him, was still living. The monarch did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the release of biographical works giving more disturbing particulars of his behavior and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could escape lying about his relationship with a notorious figure.

Society (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser monarchical figures realized that. The one imperative is to pass on the monarchy, if not as previously at least intact and unstained.

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

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

Aftermath

Ultimately, the well-known hesitant king was pushed further. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the account.

Currently the loss of designations and the ongoing and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The initial royal to forfeit his designations in recent history
• Naval Career: Especially stinging given his role in the engagement

He continues to be a counsellor of state, in principle able to act for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but not any of these will truly come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he comes across still acknowledge him? Could they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Might they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the monarchy's extensive property at a royal residence.

In that place, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some sort of private allowance.

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

Unresolved Issues

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might legislators seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Maybe for the present the institutional damage to the monarchy is contained. The statement from the palace was evidently that the stripping of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior family members, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the concise communication showed clearly that the institution were supporting the accuser's account of incidents.

Additionally, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the survivors: "These actions are judged required, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, selfishness and laziness that will undermine the institution. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew appears never to have learned that reality.