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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion smiled suggestively in the background.

Absent that photograph, shot at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a adolescent who declared she was trafficked across the ocean and compelled to have brief relations with a prince of the royal bloodline?

An odd, telling gesture by someone who had overtly stated to have not known about her, asserted he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of family money to resolve a long-delayed court action.

Over a Decade of Scandal

In this context, conversations of the royals acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his parents, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his employees and the police were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he openly hosted them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Trips were listed in official documents: private aircraft transfers from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Furthermore the arrogance which demanded subservience when he walked into a space or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his official documents in messages to his friends.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who unaccountably indulged him, was still living. The sovereign did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his ill-fated and, as revealed, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the issuance of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his companions.

More information have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could escape being untruthful about his relationship with a notorious figure.

The public (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was no one of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent royals realized that. The one imperative is to transfer the monarchy, if not as previously at least intact and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, responsible and reactive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an age when deference and discretion is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Eventually, the notoriously hesitant king was prodded more. There was little choice. The royal household had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Now it is the stripping of titles and the persistent and permanent personal shame that will pain Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a commoner
• Past Example: The initial monarch to lose his honorifics in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly hurtful given his role in the conflict

He remains a royal advisor, in principle able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but none of these will truly occur.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he encounters still acknowledge him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the royal family's large grounds at a royal residence.

There, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some form of private allowance.

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

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still files in the possession of US Congress to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the improper use of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Maybe for the moment the institutional damage to the monarchy is restricted. The message from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of designations was what the king, and notably other senior royals, desired.

A Shift in Position

An end to illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the brief announcement showed evidently that the monarchy were aligning with the victim's narrative of incidents.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed consideration for the affected individuals: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the monarchy. In his foolishness, personal excess and corruption, Andrew appears never to have learned that truth.