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The saga started with a single photograph, possibly the most consequential ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while a companion smiled suggestively in the backdrop.

Without that snapshot, shot at a party in 2001, few would have credited the claims of a teenager who said she was moved across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory relations with a individual of the royal family?

A curious, revealing action by someone who had publicly stated to have never been aware of her, claimed he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of monarchical funds to avert a long-delayed lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Considering this, discussions of the royals acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This affair has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, possibly even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his staff and the police were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable companions given he unabashedly hosted them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Trips were printed in royal annual reports: private aircraft transfers from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Furthermore the arrogance which expected subservience when he entered a area or the supreme awareness about his designations used on his letterheads in letters to his friends.

He could get away with it while his parent, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The monarch did at least revoke him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his catastrophic and, as revealed, untruthful public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of biographical works giving more grim details of his actions and that of his companions.

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

People (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any consequence to support him, a outcome of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The wiser monarchical figures understood that. The one imperative is to pass on the monarchy, if not as before at least intact and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of past sovereigns, proving they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in danger in an age when respect and privacy is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Finally, the well-known uncertain monarch was pressured further. There was no alternative. The institution had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the stripping of designations and the continued and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to surrender his titles in modern times
• Armed Forces: Notably painful given his service in the engagement

He remains a counsellor of state, theoretically able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but neither of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he encounters still acknowledge him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Might they say Sir,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's large estate at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some form of personal stipend.

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the custody of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could lawmakers demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the misuse of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Possibly for the moment the institutional damage to the crown is restricted. The statement from the royal household was evidently that the removal of titles was what the sovereign, and especially other senior royals, wanted.

Changed Stance

An end to illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the brief communication showed plainly that the monarchy were siding with the complainant's version of events.

Furthermore, for the first time they eventually showed concern for the survivors: "The measures are considered essential, notwithstanding the reality that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and laziness that will destroy the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-gratification and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that reality.