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The saga started with a solitary photograph, possibly the most impactful ever captured of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a young woman, while another individual beamed suggestively in the rear.

Absent that image, taken at a party in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who said she was transported across the Atlantic and compelled to have brief sexual encounters with a prince of the royal family?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had overtly stated to have not been aware of her, said he could not have had sex with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical money to resolve a drawn-out lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, talk of the royal family acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This scandal has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his siblings, possibly even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his aides and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable friends given he unabashedly invited them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Trips were listed in public records: private aircraft flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Furthermore the presumption which required deference when he walked into a room or the supreme obsession about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still alive. The Queen did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the wake of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the publication of books giving more grim particulars of his behavior and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could get away with lying about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

People (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was not a single person of any consequence to support him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent family members realized that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as heretofore at least whole and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are valuable, responsible and reactive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in danger in an age when respect and discretion is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Finally, the famously hesitant sovereign was pushed additional. There was no alternative. The royal household had surrendered command of the account.

Presently the loss of titles and the continued and life-long social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The initial member to forfeit his titles in modern times
• Armed Forces: Especially stinging given his role in the conflict

He continues to be a constitutional officer, theoretically able to stand in for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but not any of these will truly happen.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Might they still slip up and call him Sir? Might they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's extensive estate at a monarchical property.

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

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

Pending Matters

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

• Political Pressure: Will parliament request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the waste of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Possibly for the present the reputational impact to the institution is contained. The narrative from the institution was evidently that the revocation of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, wanted.

Altered Approach

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the concise announcement showed plainly that the institution were aligning with the complainant's account of events.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed consideration for the survivors: "The censures are judged required, regardless of the fact that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

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