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It all began with a solitary photograph, arguably the most consequential ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a female youth, while a companion grinned knowingly in the backdrop.

Absent that photograph, taken at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who stated she was trafficked across the Atlantic and forced to have cursory intimate contact with a member of the monarchy?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had overtly asserted to have never known about her, said he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over millions of his mother's resources to settle a drawn-out legal case.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

Considering this, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Self-importance: How long did his siblings, perhaps even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his staff and the police were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he openly welcomed them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were documented in royal annual reports: private aircraft transfers from the estate to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Furthermore the arrogance which expected subservience when he walked into a room or the profound obsession about his honorifics used on his correspondence in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who strangely indulged him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least strip him of official roles and military positions in the wake of his ill-fated and, as revealed, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of books giving more grim information of his actions and that of his companions.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could get away with lying about his contact with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the media) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was no one of any significance to support him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to transfer the crown, if not as before at least whole and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of previous monarchs, proving they are useful, accountable and attentive to their people.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an age when deference and discretion is no longer enough.

Consequences

Finally, the well-known indecisive sovereign was pressured additional. There was no other option. The palace had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Now it is the removal of designations and the continued and lifetime social disgrace that will pain Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The primary royal to forfeit his designations in modern times
• Armed Forces: Especially painful given his role in the engagement

He continues to be a counsellor of state, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but not any of these will ever happen.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he meets still defer to him? Might they still slip up and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the monarchy's large estate at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be furnished by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of financial support.

It is not his former home, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the custody of American legislators to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Could parliament request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the waste of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Possibly for the moment the institutional damage to the crown is contained. The statement from the institution was plainly that the stripping of titles was what the monarch, and especially other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the brief communication showed clearly that the royals were aligning with the victim's account of incidents.

Even more, for the initial instance they eventually showed regard for the victims: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the reality that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

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