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

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a young woman, while another individual beamed conspiratorially in the rear.

Lacking that photograph, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a adolescent who said she was trafficked across the sea and forced to have perfunctory intimate contact with a prince of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative action by someone who had overtly claimed to have never heard of her, said he could never have had sex with her, and yet paid millions of family resources to avert a drawn-out court action.

A Long Period of Scandal

Against this backdrop, talk of the monarchy acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has continued for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and a further image of Andrew walking amiably with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Hubris: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his aides and the police were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he openly welcomed them to palaces.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Travel were listed in royal annual reports: helicopter travel from the estate to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the entitlement which required deference when he appeared in a area or the extreme obsession about his designations used on his letterheads in letters to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The Queen did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his catastrophic and, as revealed, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of books giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could get away with deceiving about his interaction with a notorious figure.

The public (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royals. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser monarchical figures understood that. The key objective is to pass on the monarchy, if not as before at least whole and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of earlier rulers, showing they are valuable, accountable and reactive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an era when submission and secrecy is no longer enough.

The Fallout

Finally, the notoriously uncertain monarch was pressured further. There was little choice. The palace had surrendered command of the account.

Presently the stripping of titles and the ongoing and lifetime social disgrace that will afflict Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The initial member to lose his designations in modern times
• Naval Career: Notably stinging given his service in the engagement

He remains a royal advisor, on paper able to stand in for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but not any of these will actually happen.

Future Prospects

Can persons he meets still show respect to him? Could they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Sir,

Certainly, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's vast estate at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some type of private allowance.

It is not his previous residence, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still documents in the possession of US Congress to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Might parliament request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the waste of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Maybe for the present the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is limited. The message from the palace was evidently that the revocation of designations was what the monarch, and notably other senior royals, wanted.

Altered Approach

No more illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the concise announcement showed clearly that the royals were supporting the complainant's account of incidents.

Even more, for the first time they ultimately showed regard for the survivors: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-seeking and indolence that will kill the crown. In his stupidity, personal excess and corruption, Andrew seems never to have understood that lesson.