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It all began with a single photograph, possibly the most significant ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual grinned knowingly in the background.

Without that snapshot, taken at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a young woman who said she was moved across the ocean and compelled to have perfunctory relations with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A strange, revealing move by someone who had publicly stated to have never been aware of her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a large amount of family resources to settle a long-delayed lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

Against this backdrop, discussions of the monarchy acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and another snapshot of Andrew strolling amiably with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Arrogance: How long did his family members, perhaps even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his aides and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable companions given he openly hosted them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Travel were listed in royal annual reports: private aircraft flights from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which expected subservience when he entered a space or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his official documents in communication to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his ill-fated and, as revealed, untruthful public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the issuance of books giving more troubling details of his conduct and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could escape being untruthful about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more astute monarchical figures realized that. The key objective is to pass on the institution, if not as heretofore at least complete and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of past sovereigns, proving they are beneficial, responsible and reactive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in danger in an time when deference and discretion is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Finally, the famously hesitant monarch was prodded more. There was no other option. The royal household had relinquished authority of the account.

Currently the loss of titles and the persistent and life-long personal shame that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The initial royal to lose his titles in modern times
• Naval Career: Notably painful given his role in the engagement

He remains a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but not any of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Can persons he meets still show respect to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Would they say Mr,

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

There, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

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

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still files in the possession of US Congress to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will parliament demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the present the reputational impact to the institution is contained. The message from the royal household was clearly that the stripping of designations was what the king, and especially other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

Changed Stance

An end to illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the brief statement showed clearly that the institution were supporting the accuser's narrative of events.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed regard for the survivors: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and inactivity that will undermine the crown. In his stupidity, self-gratification and venality, Andrew appears never to have learned that truth.