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It all began with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a young woman, while another individual grinned suggestively in the rear.

Without that snapshot, captured at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who declared she was transported across the sea and obliged to have cursory sexual encounters with a member of the royal family?

An odd, indicative move by someone who had openly asserted to have never heard of her, said he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over millions of his mother's resources to resolve a drawn-out court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

In this context, discussions of the royals acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has endured for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling amiably with a notorious individual emerged.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, maybe even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his aides and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable companions given he publicly invited them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in public records: chopper flights from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Then there was the entitlement which required deference when he walked into a room or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his letterheads in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who unaccountably pampered him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least remove him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the publication of accounts giving more grim details of his actions and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could escape lying about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

People (and the journalists) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was no one of any importance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute family members recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the monarchy, if not as previously at least whole and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of earlier rulers, proving they are valuable, dutiful and attentive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in peril in an time when deference and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive monarch was pushed further. There was no alternative. The royal household had lost control of the narrative.

Currently the removal of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime social disgrace that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The first member to lose his honorifics in contemporary era
• Military Service: Especially stinging given his role in the engagement

He continues to be a counsellor of state, on paper able to substitute for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but not any of these will actually come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still acknowledge him? Could they still slip up and call him Prince? Will they even say Sir,

Naturally, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's vast estate at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of financial support.

This is not his former home, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still documents in the possession of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might legislators demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the improper use of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Perhaps for the time being the institutional damage to the institution is restricted. The narrative from the institution was clearly that the removal of designations was what the monarch, and notably other senior family members, sought.

Changed Stance

The cessation of deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the concise communication showed evidently that the institution were supporting the complainant's narrative of occurrences.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they finally showed regard for the victims: "The measures are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the claims against him."

In the end it is presumption, self-seeking and indolence that will destroy the crown. In his stupidity, personal excess and venality, Andrew seems never to have understood that reality.