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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, arguably the most significant ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while a companion grinned conspiratorially in the background.

Without that snapshot, shot at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a teenager who declared she was trafficked across the ocean and obliged to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a prince of the royal family?

A curious, telling action by someone who had openly claimed to have no known about her, claimed he could never have had sex with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of family money to settle a protracted court action.

Years of Scandal

Considering this, conversations of the royal family acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and another image of Andrew strolling amiably with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: For what duration did his family members, possibly even his relatives, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his employees and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he openly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in public records: private aircraft travel from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the presumption which demanded subservience when he walked into a area or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his correspondence in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who strangely indulged him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least strip him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, untruthful television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of books giving more grim details of his conduct and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could get away with deceiving about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was not a single person of any significance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals understood that. The key objective is to pass on the monarchy, if not as previously at least complete and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are useful, accountable and responsive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an age when submission and discretion is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously hesitant king was pushed additional. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the story.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to surrender his titles in modern times
• Naval Career: Particularly painful given his service in the conflict

He remains a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but not any of these will ever happen.

Coming Developments

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

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the sovereign's large estate at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of private allowance.

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

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still records in the possession of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might lawmakers seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the waste of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Possibly for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is restricted. The message from the institution was evidently that the revocation of honorifics was what the monarch, and notably other senior royals, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the short communication showed clearly that the monarchy were supporting the accuser's version of incidents.

Even more, for the initial instance they eventually showed consideration for the affected individuals: "These actions are deemed necessary, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-seeking and indolence that will destroy the monarchy. In his folly, self-gratification and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that truth.