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The saga started with a solitary photograph, arguably the most significant ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate grinned suggestively in the backdrop.

Without that image, shot at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a adolescent who said she was transported across the sea and obliged to have cursory relations with a prince of the royal family?

A curious, revealing action by someone who had publicly stated to have never known about her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet paid millions of his mother's funds to resolve a drawn-out legal case.

Years of Disgrace

In this context, discussions of the monarchy acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This scandal has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Hubris: To what extent did his family members, perhaps even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his staff and the police were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable associates given he openly invited them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were documented in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the entitlement which required subservience when he appeared in a space or the extreme awareness about his honorifics used on his official documents in messages to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who inexplicably pampered him, was still alive. The Queen did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the wake of his ill-fated and, as revealed, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the issuance of biographical works giving more troubling information of his actions and that of his connections.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the press) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any consequence to support him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute monarchical figures recognized that. The key objective is to pass on the crown, if not as previously at least whole and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of past sovereigns, proving they are valuable, responsible and reactive to their subjects.

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

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously indecisive monarch was pressured more. There was no other option. The royal household had relinquished authority of the account.

Now it is the stripping of designations and the persistent and lifetime social disgrace that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The first member to forfeit his titles in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Notably painful given his duty in the engagement

He continues to be a counsellor of state, on paper able to act for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but none of these will actually happen.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he meets still show respect to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Might they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's extensive property at Sandringham.

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

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

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still documents in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Will parliament demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Perhaps for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The message from the royal household was plainly that the stripping of designations was what the monarch, and especially other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the concise statement showed evidently that the monarchy were aligning with the accuser's version of incidents.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed concern for the affected individuals: "The censures are deemed necessary, regardless of the reality that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, selfishness and inactivity that will undermine the crown. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that truth.