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It all began 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 teenage girl, while a companion smiled conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Without that photograph, captured at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a adolescent who stated she was trafficked across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a member of the royal family?

An odd, revealing gesture by someone who had publicly stated to have no been aware of her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet provided a large amount of his mother's resources to settle a drawn-out court action.

Years of Scandal

In this context, talk of the royals acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has endured for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and another image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his employees and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he unabashedly welcomed them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Trips were documented in royal annual reports: helicopter flights 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".

World of Deference

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

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who unaccountably indulged him, was still alive. The Queen did at least strip him of official roles and military positions in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the release of accounts giving more grim particulars of his conduct and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could avoid deceiving about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

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

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals understood that. The one imperative is to pass on the institution, if not as heretofore at least complete and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of earlier rulers, proving they are useful, dutiful and attentive to their citizens.

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

The Fallout

Eventually, the notoriously uncertain monarch was pressured more. There was no other option. The palace had lost control of the account.

Now it is the loss of honorifics and the continued and permanent personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The initial monarch to lose his honorifics in modern times
• Naval Career: Especially hurtful given his duty in the Falklands war

He remains a constitutional officer, on paper able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but none of these will truly occur.

What Lies Ahead

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

Of course, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's vast property at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be provided by the king with one of the royal residences and given some form of private allowance.

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

The situation continues. There are still documents in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will parliament seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the misuse of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Maybe for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is limited. The message from the institution was evidently that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Altered Approach

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the concise announcement showed plainly that the monarchy were aligning with the victim's narrative of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they eventually showed concern for the survivors: "These actions are judged required, despite the reality that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-interest and inactivity that will kill the monarchy. In his folly, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew seems never to have grasped that reality.