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

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a young woman who declared she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have perfunctory intimate contact with a prince of the monarchy?

A strange, telling gesture by someone who had openly stated to have not known about her, asserted he could not have had sex with her, and yet provided millions of monarchical resources to resolve a protracted court action.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

In this context, discussions of the monarchy acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has endured for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and a further image of Andrew walking pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable associates given he unabashedly hosted them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Trips were printed in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the entitlement which required deference when he appeared in a space or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his friends.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The Queen did at least revoke him of official roles and military positions in the consequence of his ill-fated and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the issuance of accounts giving more troubling information of his actions and that of his associates.

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

People (and the journalists) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any significance to support him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as previously at least whole and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of earlier rulers, proving they are valuable, dutiful and responsive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an era when submission and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

The Fallout

Eventually, the famously uncertain monarch was prodded additional. There was no alternative. The institution had lost control of the account.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The initial royal to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Especially stinging given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a constitutional officer, in principle able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but not any of these will ever happen.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he comes across still acknowledge him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Might they say Sir,

Certainly, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's extensive grounds at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be furnished by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of personal stipend.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a minimal 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 documents in the custody of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could legislators request additional information
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the waste of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the monarchy is contained. The narrative from the royal household was evidently that the revocation of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior family members, sought.

A Shift in Position

No more illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the brief statement showed evidently that the institution were siding with the victim's narrative of incidents.

Even more, for the first time they finally showed concern for the victims: "These actions are judged required, regardless of the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-interest and indolence that will destroy the institution. In his folly, personal excess and greed, Andrew seems never to have understood that reality.