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It all began with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most significant ever taken of a royal family member.

There stood the Duke of York, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Absent that image, captured at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a young woman who stated she was moved across the ocean and forced to have cursory intimate contact with a member of the royal family?

An odd, revealing gesture by someone who had publicly asserted to have no heard of her, said he could never have had relations with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of monarchical funds to resolve a protracted court action.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, talk of the monarchy acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has continued for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and a further image of Andrew ambling congenially with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Hubris: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his relatives, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his staff and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he unabashedly hosted them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Journeys were printed in official documents: private aircraft transfers from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the entitlement which demanded respect when he entered a area or the extreme consciousness about his royal titles used on his official documents in letters to his associates.

He could get away with it while his mother, who unaccountably indulged him, was still alive. The monarch did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his disastrous and, we now know, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the issuance of accounts giving more grim particulars of his behavior and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with lying about his relationship with a notorious figure.

People (and the press) were far in advance of the royals. There was not a single person of any importance to support him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The wiser family members realized that. The key objective is to pass on the institution, if not as heretofore at least intact and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of earlier rulers, proving they are useful, responsible and reactive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an time when respect and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the notoriously indecisive sovereign was pressured additional. There was no alternative. The institution had lost control of the story.

Presently the loss of titles and the persistent and life-long social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The primary royal to surrender his designations in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly hurtful given his duty in the Falklands war

He is still a counsellor of state, in principle able to act for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but neither of these will actually happen.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Might they say Sir,

Of course, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the monarchy's extensive grounds at a royal residence.

There, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still files in the possession of American legislators to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could parliament demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the misuse of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The statement from the royal household was plainly that the removal of designations was what the king, and notably other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Altered Approach

The cessation of deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the concise statement showed plainly that the monarchy were siding with the complainant's account of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "The censures are considered essential, notwithstanding the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-interest and inactivity that will undermine the institution. In his stupidity, personal excess and corruption, Andrew appears never to have learned that truth.