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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Duke of York, standing closely beside a female youth, while another individual beamed conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Lacking that photograph, shot at a party in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a adolescent who declared she was trafficked across the Atlantic and forced to have cursory relations with a member of the royal bloodline?

A strange, telling gesture by someone who had publicly asserted to have no known about her, claimed he could no have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's money to avert a drawn-out lawsuit.

Years of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, talk of the monarchy acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This scandal has endured for the better part of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew strolling congenially with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his family members, maybe even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable companions given he unabashedly welcomed them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Trips were listed in royal annual reports: helicopter flights from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the presumption which demanded respect when he walked into a area or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in letters to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who unaccountably indulged him, was still living. The Queen did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, we now know, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling information of his behavior and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with being untruthful about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the media) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any importance to support him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

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

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of previous monarchs, proving they are beneficial, responsible and responsive to their citizens.

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

Consequences

Eventually, the notoriously hesitant monarch was pushed more. There was no alternative. The palace had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the stripping of designations and the persistent and lifetime social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The first member to surrender his designations in modern times
• Armed Forces: Especially stinging given his duty in the engagement

He is still a royal advisor, theoretically able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but not any of these will ever happen.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the monarchy's vast grounds at a royal residence.

In that place, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of personal stipend.

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

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still files in the possession of American legislators to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could legislators request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Perhaps for the time being the reputational impact to the monarchy is restricted. The message from the palace was evidently that the stripping of honorifics was what the king, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Altered Approach

The cessation of deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the short announcement showed clearly that the institution were siding with the accuser's version of events.

Even more, for the first time they eventually showed concern for the affected individuals: "The measures are judged required, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-seeking and indolence that will kill the institution. In his stupidity, self-gratification and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that truth.