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It all began with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, with his arm around a teenage girl, while a companion beamed conspiratorially in the rear.

Lacking that image, shot at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a adolescent who stated she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have brief sexual encounters with a prince of the royal family?

A curious, telling action by someone who had publicly claimed to have never heard of her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of monarchical resources to resolve a long-delayed lawsuit.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, conversations of the monarchy acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This scandal has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Hubris: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his employees and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he publicly hosted them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were listed in official documents: chopper flights from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the arrogance which required respect when he walked into a room or the supreme awareness about his honorifics used on his official documents in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least remove him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, we now know, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the issuance of accounts giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his associates.

More information have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could escape lying about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the press) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was no one of any significance to support him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more astute monarchical figures understood that. The primary concern is to hand down the institution, if not as heretofore at least complete and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, proving they are valuable, responsible and attentive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an era when deference and privacy is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the well-known hesitant king was pushed more. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the story.

Presently the stripping of titles and the persistent and life-long personal shame that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Reduced to just a commoner
• Past Example: The first royal to surrender his designations in recent history
• Naval Career: Especially painful given his duty in the engagement

He remains a royal advisor, theoretically able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but neither of these will actually come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he meets still acknowledge him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Would they say Andrew,

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

At that location, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some sort of private allowance.

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still records in the custody of American legislators to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could lawmakers request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the improper use of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Possibly for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is limited. The message from the royal household was plainly that the stripping of titles was what the monarch, and especially other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the brief communication showed plainly that the institution were siding with the complainant's narrative of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they ultimately showed consideration for the survivors: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and inactivity that will kill the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-gratification and venality, Andrew seems never to have understood that lesson.