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The saga started with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while a companion grinned conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Without that snapshot, captured at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who said she was transported across the ocean and obliged to have cursory intimate contact with a member of the monarchy?

A strange, revealing gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have not known about her, said he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over millions of monarchical resources to settle a drawn-out court action.

A Long Period 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 picture, and another image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his siblings, perhaps even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his employees and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he openly invited them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Travel were documented in public records: helicopter travel from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the entitlement which expected respect when he entered a space or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his parent, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his disastrous and, it is now clear, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the release of accounts giving more grim details of his conduct and that of his companions.

More information have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could avoid deceiving about his contact with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the journalists) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent royals realized that. The primary concern is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least complete and unblemished.

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

He was placing all that in danger in an era when respect and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Ultimately, the well-known hesitant monarch was pushed more. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the story.

Now it is the stripping of titles and the ongoing and lifetime social disgrace that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The initial member to surrender his honorifics in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Particularly painful given his role in the conflict

He remains a royal advisor, theoretically able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but not any of these will actually happen.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he encounters still acknowledge him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Will they even say Mr,

Of course, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's extensive property at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of financial support.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the possession of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the misuse of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Maybe for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is limited. The narrative from the palace was plainly that the removal of titles was what the sovereign, and especially other senior royals, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed clearly that the monarchy were siding with the accuser's account of incidents.

Even more, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the survivors: "These actions are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

In the end it is entitlement, self-interest and inactivity that will kill the crown. In his folly, personal excess and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that lesson.