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This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while a companion smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Without that photograph, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a teenager who stated she was transported across the sea and compelled to have cursory sexual encounters with a individual of the monarchy?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had openly asserted to have no known about her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet provided millions of family resources to settle a protracted court action.

A Long Period of Scandal

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royal family acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This scandal has continued for the better part of 15 years since that image, and an additional snapshot of Andrew ambling congenially with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Hubris: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his aides and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable friends given he publicly invited them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Trips were printed in official documents: private aircraft travel from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Then there was the presumption which expected subservience when he walked into a space or the profound obsession about his royal titles used on his official documents in messages to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who inexplicably indulged him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least revoke him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the release of accounts giving more disturbing particulars of his behavior and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could escape lying about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was no one of any importance to support him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser monarchical figures realized that. The key objective is to pass on the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least intact and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the image of past sovereigns, proving they are useful, responsible and attentive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in danger in an age when submission and privacy is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Eventually, the well-known hesitant sovereign was prodded additional. There was little choice. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Currently the removal of honorifics and the persistent and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a commoner
• Past Example: The first member to lose his honorifics in modern times
• Military Service: Notably hurtful given his duty in the engagement

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

Coming Developments

Do individuals he comes across still acknowledge him? Could they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Might they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the monarchy's extensive estate at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be supplied by the king with one of the estate properties and given some type of financial support.

It is not his previous residence, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Will parliament request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Perhaps for the present the harm to the monarchy to the institution is contained. The statement from the institution was plainly that the removal of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, sought.

A Shift in Position

No more pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the brief statement showed plainly that the royals were supporting the victim's version of incidents.

Even more, for the first time they finally showed concern for the survivors: "The measures are deemed necessary, despite the fact that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

Finally it is entitlement, selfishness and laziness that will destroy the institution. In his stupidity, personal excess and venality, Andrew appears never to have grasped that truth.