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

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a female youth, while an associate smiled suggestively in the background.

Without that photograph, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the claims of a adolescent who stated she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a prince of the monarchy?

A strange, telling move by someone who had publicly stated to have not heard of her, asserted he could never have had sex with her, and yet paid millions of family resources to settle a drawn-out legal case.

Years of Controversy

In this context, conversations of the monarchy acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This controversy has endured for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew strolling congenially with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, maybe even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the police were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly invited them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Travel were printed in official documents: private aircraft flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Additionally the entitlement which expected deference when he entered a room or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who inexplicably indulged him, was still alive. The monarch did at least remove him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of biographical works giving more disturbing particulars of his behavior and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could get away with lying about his contact with a disgraced individual.

People (and the media) were far in advance of the royal family. There was no one of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more astute royals realized that. The one imperative is to pass on the institution, if not as before at least whole and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, accountable and responsive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in peril in an time when submission and privacy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Eventually, the well-known hesitant monarch was prodded more. There was no other option. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Currently the removal of designations and the continued and life-long public humiliation that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Reduced to just a commoner
• Past Example: The initial monarch to surrender his designations in modern times
• Naval Career: Notably painful given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a royal advisor, on paper able to act for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but neither of these will truly come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he meets still show respect to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Will they even say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the sovereign's vast property at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some sort of personal stipend.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the custody of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could lawmakers demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Perhaps for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is restricted. The narrative from the institution was evidently that the removal of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Altered Approach

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the short statement showed evidently that the royals were aligning with the accuser's narrative of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "The measures are judged required, despite the reality that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the crown. In his folly, personal excess and greed, Andrew seems never to have grasped that lesson.