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It all began with a solitary photograph, arguably the most significant ever captured of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the rear.

Lacking that photograph, shot at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a young woman who declared she was trafficked across the sea and compelled to have brief sexual encounters with a member of the royal family?

An odd, indicative action by someone who had publicly claimed to have not heard of her, said he could never have had sex with her, and yet paid millions of family resources to resolve a long-delayed legal case.

A Long Period of Scandal

Against this backdrop, discussions of the royals acting firmly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This controversy has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and an additional snapshot of Andrew strolling congenially with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Hubris: To what extent did his family members, possibly even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: 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 welcomed them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were printed in public records: chopper transfers from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the entitlement which demanded deference when he entered a room or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his letterheads in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his parent, who unaccountably pampered him, was still living. The monarch did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, we now know, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the publication of biographical works giving more grim details of his actions and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could get away with deceiving about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

People (and the journalists) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more astute royals understood that. The primary concern is to transfer the crown, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are beneficial, dutiful and attentive to their citizens.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an time when deference and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Finally, the famously hesitant monarch was prodded further. There was no alternative. The palace had relinquished authority of the account.

Presently the removal of titles and the continued and permanent personal shame that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The primary member to forfeit his titles in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his role in the Falklands war

He remains a constitutional officer, theoretically able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Can persons he meets still show respect to him? Will they still slip up and call him Prince? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the sovereign's vast estate at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some sort of financial support.

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 adequate distance.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could legislators request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the improper use of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Possibly for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the crown is restricted. The narrative from the institution was evidently that the stripping of designations was what the sovereign, and notably other senior family members, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed clearly that the monarchy were supporting the victim's account of events.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed regard for the victims: "These actions are considered essential, notwithstanding the reality that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-seeking and laziness that will kill the monarchy. In his folly, personal excess and venality, Andrew appears never to have understood that reality.