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It all began with a single photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a young woman, while a companion grinned conspiratorially in the background.

Absent that photograph, taken at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a teenager who declared she was trafficked across the ocean and forced to have perfunctory relations with a individual of the royal family?

A strange, telling action by someone who had openly stated to have no been aware of her, asserted he could not have had sex with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of monarchical money to resolve a drawn-out lawsuit.

Years of Disgrace

Considering this, discussions of the royals acting decisively to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that image, and a further image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light.

• Hubris: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his aides and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly hosted them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Travel were printed in official documents: helicopter flights from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the entitlement which demanded respect when he walked into a area or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his correspondence in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still living. The monarch did at least remove him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the consequence of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the publication of books giving more grim particulars of his actions and that of his associates.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could avoid lying about his interaction with a notorious figure.

Society (and the press) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was no one of any consequence to defend him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more astute family members realized that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as before at least complete and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are valuable, accountable and reactive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an age when submission and privacy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive king was pressured further. There was little choice. The institution had relinquished authority of the story.

Presently the stripping of honorifics and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The primary member to forfeit his designations in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his duty in the engagement

He remains a constitutional officer, theoretically able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but not any of these will truly happen.

Coming Developments

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

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

At that location, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some sort of personal stipend.

This is not his former home, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the waste of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the crown is restricted. The message from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of titles was what the sovereign, and notably other senior family members, sought.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the short announcement showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the complainant's narrative of events.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "The censures are considered essential, despite the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-seeking and indolence that will kill the monarchy. In his foolishness, personal excess and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.