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The saga started with a solitary photograph, arguably the most significant ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a young woman, while an associate beamed knowingly in the rear.

Absent that photograph, captured at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who said she was trafficked across the ocean and compelled to have brief relations with a member of the royal family?

An odd, revealing action by someone who had openly claimed to have no known about her, claimed he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a large amount of his mother's funds to settle a drawn-out lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Scandal

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

• Self-importance: How long did his siblings, possibly even his parents, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his employees and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he unabashedly hosted them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Journeys were documented in royal annual reports: helicopter flights from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Additionally the arrogance which demanded respect when he appeared in a space or the profound awareness about his royal titles used on his official documents in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who strangely spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his disastrous and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the issuance of accounts giving more disturbing details of his behavior and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with deceiving about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the media) were far ahead of the royal family. There was nobody of any importance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser family members recognized that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their subjects.

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

Aftermath

Ultimately, the famously indecisive sovereign was prodded further. There was no alternative. The institution had surrendered command of the story.

Presently the removal of designations and the continued and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The first member to lose his designations in modern times
• Naval Career: Especially painful given his duty in the engagement

He is still a royal advisor, theoretically able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly happen.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still acknowledge him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's extensive estate at a royal residence.

In that place, he will be provided by the king with one of the estate properties and given some type of personal stipend.

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

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still documents in the possession of American legislators to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could lawmakers request additional information
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the waste of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Perhaps for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The narrative from the institution was clearly that the stripping of designations was what the sovereign, and notably other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Changed Stance

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the brief statement showed evidently that the royals were aligning with the victim's account of events.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed concern for the affected individuals: "The censures are deemed necessary, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-interest and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his stupidity, personal excess and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that lesson.