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

There stood the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Without that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a teenager who stated she was moved across the sea and compelled to have brief relations with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had openly asserted to have never known about her, asserted he could never have had sex with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of family resources to avert a protracted lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

Against this backdrop, talk of the royal family acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has continued for the majority of 15 years since that image, and a further photo of Andrew walking congenially with a notorious individual came to light.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his employees and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he openly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in official documents: helicopter travel from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the entitlement which demanded respect when he appeared in a space or the extreme consciousness about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely pampered him, was still living. The Queen did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the release of accounts giving more troubling details of his conduct and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could get away with being untruthful about his relationship with a notorious figure.

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

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent royals recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least whole and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their subjects.

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

The Fallout

Eventually, the notoriously hesitant monarch was pressured additional. There was no alternative. The institution had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime personal shame that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The first royal to surrender his designations in modern times
• Armed Forces: Particularly stinging given his service in the Falklands war

He is still a constitutional officer, theoretically able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but not any of these will ever come to pass.

Coming Developments

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

Naturally, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's large estate at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some form of private allowance.

This is not his former home, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could lawmakers seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the misuse of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Perhaps for the moment the institutional damage to the monarchy is restricted. The message from the palace was clearly that the revocation of honorifics was what the monarch, and notably other senior family members, wanted.

Altered Approach

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the short communication showed clearly that the royals were supporting the victim's version of occurrences.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "The censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will kill the institution. In his foolishness, self-gratification and greed, Andrew appears never to have grasped that reality.