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It all began with a single photograph, arguably the most impactful ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion grinned suggestively in the background.

Without that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a adolescent who declared she was transported across the sea and obliged to have cursory sexual encounters with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A curious, telling action by someone who had overtly stated to have no heard of her, claimed he could never have had relations with her, and yet handed over millions of family resources to settle a long-delayed court action.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Against this backdrop, discussions of the royals acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This scandal has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew strolling amiably with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his siblings, perhaps even his parents, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his aides and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he openly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were printed in royal annual reports: chopper flights from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Additionally the entitlement which demanded respect when he appeared in a area or the supreme awareness about his honorifics used on his official documents in letters to his friends.

He could get away with it while his parent, who strangely spoiled him, was still living. The monarch did at least remove him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the consequence of his disastrous and, we now know, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the issuance of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his connections.

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

The public (and the journalists) were far in advance of the royals. There was not a single person of any consequence to defend him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent family members recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the institution, if not as previously at least whole and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of past sovereigns, proving they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an age when submission and discretion is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Eventually, the well-known hesitant monarch was pressured additional. There was little choice. The institution had relinquished authority of the story.

Presently the loss of titles and the persistent and life-long social disgrace that will pain Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The initial monarch to lose his titles in recent history
• Military Service: Notably hurtful given his role in the Falklands war

He remains a royal advisor, in principle able to substitute for the king, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but none of these will ever happen.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he meets still show respect to him? Could they still slip up and call him Prince? Would they say Sir,

Certainly, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the sovereign's large estate at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some sort of private allowance.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Pending Matters

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

• Political Pressure: Might legislators request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the waste of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is limited. The narrative from the royal household was evidently that the revocation of titles was what the sovereign, and notably other senior royals, wanted.

Altered Approach

No more deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the brief communication showed plainly that the monarchy were siding with the victim's narrative of incidents.

Even more, for the initial instance they eventually showed regard for the survivors: "The measures are deemed necessary, regardless of the fact that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-interest and laziness that will kill the institution. In his folly, personal excess and venality, Andrew appears never to have learned that lesson.