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It all began with a single photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever snapped of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that snapshot, shot at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a adolescent who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and forced to have perfunctory intimate contact with a member of the monarchy?

A strange, telling move by someone who had publicly stated to have never heard of her, asserted he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a large amount of monarchical funds to settle a protracted lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, talk of the monarchy acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This scandal has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and another snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his family members, perhaps even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he unabashedly hosted them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Journeys were listed in official documents: chopper flights from the palace to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Furthermore the presumption which expected subservience when he appeared in a area or the supreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still living. The Queen did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, as revealed, untruthful public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of accounts giving more disturbing information of his behavior and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid deceiving about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the journalists) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was no one of any importance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more astute family members understood that. The key objective is to transfer the institution, if not as heretofore at least whole and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of previous monarchs, proving they are beneficial, dutiful and attentive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an era when deference and discretion is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the famously uncertain sovereign was prodded more. There was no alternative. The institution had lost control of the narrative.

Now it is the stripping of designations and the persistent and lifetime personal shame that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The first member to lose his honorifics in recent history
• Armed Forces: Notably hurtful given his role in the conflict

He is still a constitutional officer, theoretically able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but neither of these will actually occur.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he encounters still defer to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Will they even say Sir,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the monarchy's extensive estate at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some form of financial support.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still files in the hands of American legislators to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the misuse of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The narrative from the palace was clearly that the revocation of honorifics was what the monarch, and especially other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Altered Approach

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the short statement showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the victim's account of occurrences.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed consideration for the survivors: "The measures are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, self-interest and laziness that will undermine the crown. In his foolishness, personal excess and corruption, Andrew appears never to have grasped that reality.