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The saga started with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever snapped of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a female youth, while another individual grinned suggestively in the background.

Absent that image, taken at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a young woman who said she was moved across the ocean and forced to have brief sexual encounters with a member of the monarchy?

An odd, telling action by someone who had publicly claimed to have never been aware of her, asserted he could not have had relations with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of family funds to resolve a protracted lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

In this context, conversations of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his siblings, possibly even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his aides and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he publicly hosted them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Travel were listed in official documents: helicopter flights from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which expected respect when he entered a area or the profound awareness about his honorifics used on his official documents in letters to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely pampered him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least revoke him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his disastrous and, it is now clear, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the issuance of biographical works giving more grim particulars of his behavior and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could escape being untruthful about his contact with a notorious figure.

Society (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any significance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals understood that. The key objective is to transfer the monarchy, if not as previously at least whole and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of previous monarchs, proving they are beneficial, accountable and reactive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an age when respect and discretion is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Eventually, the famously indecisive king was pushed further. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the account.

Currently the removal of honorifics and the continued and lifetime social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The initial monarch to forfeit his designations in recent history
• Military Service: Notably painful given his duty in the Falklands war

He is still a constitutional officer, on paper able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but not any of these will ever occur.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Could they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Might they say Sir,

Of course, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the royal family's large estate at a monarchical property.

There, he will be furnished by the king with one of the estate properties and given some type of financial support.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still documents in the custody of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will lawmakers request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the improper use of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Possibly for the time being the reputational impact to the institution is contained. The statement from the palace was plainly that the revocation of titles was what the king, and especially other senior royals, sought.

A Shift in Position

No more deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the brief communication showed plainly that the monarchy were supporting the accuser's account of events.

Additionally, for the initial instance they finally showed concern for the victims: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, selfishness and inactivity that will destroy the institution. In his stupidity, personal excess and greed, Andrew seems never to have understood that truth.