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The saga started with a solitary photograph, possibly the most significant ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a female youth, while a companion smiled knowingly in the background.

Lacking that snapshot, captured at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a young woman who stated she was moved across the sea and obliged to have cursory relations with a member of the royal family?

An odd, indicative gesture by someone who had overtly stated to have no heard of her, said he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over a large amount of his mother's money to avert a long-delayed court action.

Over a Decade of Scandal

In this context, discussions of the royal family acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This scandal has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that image, and another snapshot of Andrew walking amiably with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his aides and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he openly hosted them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Journeys were documented in official documents: helicopter travel from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the presumption which demanded subservience when he entered a area or the extreme consciousness about his designations used on his official documents in communication to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The Queen did at least remove him of official roles and military positions in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, as revealed, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the release of books giving more troubling details of his conduct and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could get away with lying about his contact with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was no one of any consequence to support him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to pass on the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of past sovereigns, showing they are valuable, accountable and responsive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an age when respect and discretion is no longer enough.

Consequences

Eventually, the well-known uncertain sovereign was pushed further. There was little choice. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Now it is the loss of designations and the continued and lifetime personal shame that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Lowered to just a commoner
• Past Example: The first royal to lose his designations in recent history
• Military Service: Notably painful given his duty in the conflict

He continues to be a constitutional officer, theoretically able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will ever happen.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Might they say Sir,

Certainly, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's vast grounds at a royal residence.

There, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some sort of personal stipend.

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the possession of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will lawmakers demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the improper use of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Perhaps for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The narrative from the palace was evidently that the removal of titles was what the monarch, and particularly other senior family members, wanted.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the short announcement showed evidently that the institution were siding with the accuser's narrative of events.

Even more, for the initial instance they eventually showed concern for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the reality that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, self-interest and inactivity that will destroy the crown. In his stupidity, self-gratification and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that truth.