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

There stood the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a female youth, while an associate smiled suggestively in the rear.

Without that photograph, taken at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a adolescent who said she was transported across the Atlantic and obliged to have brief relations with a prince of the royal family?

An odd, revealing action by someone who had overtly asserted to have never known about her, said he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of his mother's resources to resolve a protracted court action.

A Long Period of Scandal

In this context, discussions of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This affair has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Self-importance: How long did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable friends given he publicly welcomed them to palaces.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were documented in official documents: helicopter travel from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Furthermore the arrogance which demanded respect when he walked into a room or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his correspondence in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least remove him of official roles and military positions in the consequence of his disastrous and, it is now clear, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the release of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could escape deceiving about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the press) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was nobody of any consequence to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The wiser royals understood that. The one imperative is to transfer the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least complete and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are useful, accountable and responsive to their people.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an time when respect and secrecy is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Finally, the famously hesitant king was pushed additional. There was little choice. The palace had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Currently the removal of titles and the persistent and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The first member to surrender his titles in modern times
• Armed Forces: Notably stinging given his duty in the conflict

He continues to be a royal advisor, in principle able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly happen.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still show respect to him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Might they say Mr,

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

In that place, he will be supplied by the king with one of the royal residences and given some sort of private allowance.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still documents in the possession of US Congress to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will lawmakers demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Possibly for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the institution is limited. The statement from the palace was clearly that the revocation of honorifics was what the monarch, and notably other senior family members, wanted.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed evidently that the monarchy were supporting the accuser's version of events.

Even more, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "The measures are deemed necessary, despite the reality that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

In the end it is entitlement, selfishness and laziness that will destroy the crown. In his folly, personal excess and corruption, Andrew seems never to have grasped that reality.