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The saga started with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most significant ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while another individual beamed suggestively in the backdrop.

Lacking that snapshot, captured at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a adolescent who declared she was trafficked across the ocean and forced to have cursory relations with a individual of the royal bloodline?

An odd, indicative action by someone who had openly stated to have no been aware of her, asserted he could no have had relations with her, and yet paid a large amount of family money to settle a drawn-out lawsuit.

Years of Disgrace

In this context, conversations of the royal family acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This affair has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and another photo of Andrew strolling congenially with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his employees and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he publicly 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.

Travel were listed in official documents: chopper travel from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which expected subservience when he appeared in a area or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in messages to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who unaccountably indulged him, was still alive. The monarch did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his disastrous and, as revealed, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of accounts giving more troubling details of his conduct and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could get away with deceiving about his relationship with a notorious figure.

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

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser monarchical figures recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the crown, if not as before at least complete and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are useful, dutiful and responsive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in peril in an age when deference and privacy is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive sovereign was pressured more. There was no other option. The royal household had surrendered command of the account.

Now it is the stripping of designations and the continued and life-long social disgrace that will afflict Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner
• Past Example: The primary monarch to lose his honorifics in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his duty in the engagement

He is still a counsellor of state, in principle able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly occur.

Future Prospects

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

Of course, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's large grounds at Sandringham.

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

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

Pending Matters

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could parliament seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the misuse of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Perhaps for the present the institutional damage to the monarchy is restricted. The message from the institution was evidently that the stripping of titles was what the monarch, and notably other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the complainant's narrative of occurrences.

Even more, for the initial instance they ultimately showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the reality that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the crown. In his stupidity, personal excess and greed, Andrew seems never to have understood that truth.