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

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a teenage girl, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the rear.

Without that image, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a teenager who said she was transported across the ocean and compelled to have cursory sexual encounters with a member of the monarchy?

An odd, indicative move by someone who had publicly stated to have not heard of her, claimed he could no have had relations with her, and yet paid millions of his mother's resources to settle a drawn-out court action.

A Long Period of Controversy

Against this backdrop, discussions of the royals acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This scandal has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that image, and another snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, possibly even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable friends given he unabashedly hosted them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Journeys were printed in public records: helicopter transfers from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the arrogance which expected deference when he walked into a space or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his official documents in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who strangely spoiled him, was still living. The monarch did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, as revealed, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of accounts giving more disturbing details of his behavior and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid deceiving about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the journalists) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any consequence to support him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The more astute royals understood that. The key objective is to transfer the crown, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of earlier rulers, showing they are valuable, accountable and attentive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an age when respect and secrecy is no longer enough.

The Fallout

Finally, the famously indecisive king was prodded further. There was no other option. The royal household had surrendered command of the account.

Now it is the stripping of honorifics and the persistent and life-long public humiliation that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The first member to lose his honorifics in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his duty in the Falklands war

He is still a royal advisor, on paper able to act for the king, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but neither of these will truly happen.

Coming Developments

Can persons he meets still defer to him? Could they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Might they say Mr,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's vast grounds at a royal residence.

There, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of financial support.

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will parliament demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Maybe for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The statement from the royal household was evidently that the removal of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior royals, sought.

Altered Approach

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the brief announcement showed plainly that the institution were siding with the accuser's narrative of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they ultimately showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The censures are considered essential, despite the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will destroy the crown. In his stupidity, self-gratification and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that lesson.