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This episode commenced with a single photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

There stood the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a young woman, while another individual grinned conspiratorially in the rear.

Absent that image, captured at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a teenager who declared she was transported across the ocean and obliged to have brief sexual encounters with a prince of the royal bloodline?

An odd, indicative move by someone who had overtly asserted to have no been aware of her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of his mother's resources to resolve a drawn-out court action.

A Long Period of Scandal

Considering this, discussions of the monarchy acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has continued for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and a further image of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Hubris: For what duration did his family members, possibly even his parents, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his employees and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he publicly hosted them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Travel were printed in royal annual reports: helicopter transfers from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which required respect when he appeared in a area or the profound obsession about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The sovereign did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the issuance of books giving more troubling particulars of his conduct and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid lying about his contact with a disgraced individual.

People (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was not a single person of any significance to speak up for him, a result 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 previously at least whole and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of earlier rulers, showing they are beneficial, dutiful and reactive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an time when respect and discretion is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive monarch was pressured additional. There was no other option. The institution had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the stripping of titles and the persistent and permanent social disgrace that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The initial member to forfeit his titles in modern times
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his service in the Falklands war

He remains a counsellor of state, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but none of these will actually happen.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the sovereign's vast property at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of financial support.

This is not his former home, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the hands of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will lawmakers seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the misuse of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the crown is restricted. The statement from the palace was plainly that the revocation of designations was what the king, and notably other senior family members, desired.

Altered Approach

An end to deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the concise communication showed clearly that the monarchy were aligning with the victim's narrative of incidents.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the affected individuals: "The censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the reality that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and indolence that will kill the crown. In his stupidity, self-gratification and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that reality.