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

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while another individual beamed conspiratorially in the background.

Absent that image, taken at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a young woman who stated she was trafficked across the sea and obliged to have cursory intimate contact with a individual of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative gesture by someone who had publicly claimed to have never known about her, claimed he could not have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of family funds to settle a drawn-out court action.

A Long Period of Controversy

In this context, conversations of the royals acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This controversy has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his family members, possibly even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he publicly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Trips were printed in public records: helicopter transfers from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the entitlement which demanded subservience when he entered a space or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his correspondence in messages to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who strangely pampered him, was still living. The Queen did at least remove him of public duties and military positions in the wake of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of books giving more disturbing information of his actions and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his interaction with a notorious figure.

People (and the journalists) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was nobody of any consequence to support him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more astute family members understood that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least complete and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and reactive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an era when submission and privacy is no longer enough.

The Fallout

Eventually, the famously hesitant monarch was prodded further. There was no other option. The palace had lost control of the narrative.

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

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The initial member to forfeit his honorifics in recent history
• Military Service: Notably painful given his duty in the engagement

He continues to be a constitutional officer, in principle able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but not any of these will ever come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Might they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the royal family's vast property at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be supplied by the king with one of the royal residences and given some sort of private allowance.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the hands of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could lawmakers request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the improper use of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Perhaps for the present the harm to the monarchy to the institution is limited. The statement from the royal household was clearly that the removal of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed plainly that the royals were siding with the complainant's version of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the affected individuals: "These actions are considered essential, notwithstanding the reality that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, self-seeking and indolence that will destroy the monarchy. In his folly, self-gratification and greed, Andrew seems never to have understood that lesson.