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It all began with a single photograph, possibly the most impactful ever snapped of a royal family member.

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

Lacking that photograph, captured at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a adolescent who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and forced to have brief intimate contact with a prince of the royal family?

An odd, indicative gesture by someone who had overtly claimed to have never known about her, asserted he could no have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of family money to resolve a drawn-out legal case.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Against this backdrop, talk of the royals acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This scandal has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and another image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his siblings, maybe even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his employees and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable companions given he publicly invited them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Travel were listed in official documents: helicopter flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the arrogance which demanded subservience when he walked into a space or the supreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his mother, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his disastrous and, we now know, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of accounts giving more grim particulars of his conduct and that of his companions.

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

Society (and the journalists) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was no one of any importance to support him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent monarchical figures recognized that. The primary concern is to hand down the institution, if not as previously at least complete and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are useful, responsible and responsive to their people.

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

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously uncertain king was pressured further. There was no alternative. The palace had lost control of the narrative.

Currently the loss of designations and the ongoing and permanent personal shame that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Reduced to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The primary royal to surrender his titles in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Notably stinging given his role in the Falklands war

He is still a counsellor of state, theoretically able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but none of these will truly come to pass.

Future Prospects

Will people he meets still show respect to him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Might they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the sovereign's large estate at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be supplied by the king with one of the estate properties and given some sort of private allowance.

It is not his previous residence, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Will legislators request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Maybe for the moment the institutional damage to the institution is restricted. The message from the institution was plainly that the stripping of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, desired.

A Shift in Position

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the concise statement showed evidently that the institution were supporting the accuser's version of occurrences.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they finally showed concern for the affected individuals: "These actions are judged required, despite the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, self-seeking and inactivity that will destroy the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew seems never to have understood that truth.