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

There stood the Duke of York, standing closely beside a young woman, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the background.

Absent that snapshot, taken at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a adolescent who declared she was trafficked across the sea and compelled to have brief intimate contact with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A strange, revealing action by someone who had openly claimed to have no known about her, claimed he could not have had relations with her, and yet handed over millions of monarchical funds to settle a drawn-out legal case.

A Long Period of Scandal

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royal family acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This scandal has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that image, and an additional image of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Hubris: To what extent did his family members, perhaps even his parents, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his employees and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable friends given he publicly hosted them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Travel were listed in royal annual reports: private aircraft flights from the palace to a country club and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which expected respect when he appeared in a area or the supreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in messages to his associates.

He could get away with it while his parent, who strangely pampered him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of biographical works giving more grim information of his actions and that of his associates.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his contact with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was nobody of any importance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent royals recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the institution, if not as previously at least intact and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of previous monarchs, proving they are valuable, dutiful and responsive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an era when respect and privacy is no longer sufficient.

The Fallout

Eventually, the well-known indecisive king was pressured additional. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the account.

Currently the removal of honorifics and the persistent and permanent personal shame that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The first royal to forfeit his titles in modern times
• Armed Forces: Particularly stinging given his duty in the Falklands war

He continues to be a counsellor of state, theoretically able to substitute for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but not any of these will truly come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Would they say Mr,

Naturally, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the royal family's vast estate at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be provided by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of private allowance.

It is not his former home, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still documents in the possession of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Could parliament request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Maybe for the present the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is limited. The statement from the royal household was evidently that the stripping of titles was what the sovereign, and especially other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Changed Stance

An end to pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the brief announcement showed clearly that the institution were aligning with the complainant's version of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed regard for the survivors: "These actions are judged required, regardless of the fact that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Finally it is presumption, self-interest and inactivity that will undermine the institution. In his foolishness, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew seems never to have understood that truth.