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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Duke of York, standing closely beside a female youth, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that image, captured at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a young woman who stated she was transported across the ocean and compelled to have cursory sexual encounters with a prince of the monarchy?

A curious, telling gesture by someone who had overtly claimed to have not known about her, claimed he could never have had sex with her, and yet paid millions of family funds to avert a drawn-out court action.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Considering this, conversations of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This affair has endured for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and a further photo of Andrew strolling congenially 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 arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his aides and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable friends given he publicly welcomed them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in public records: chopper transfers from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which required respect when he entered a area or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in communication to his associates.

He could get away with it while his mother, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still alive. The Queen did at least remove him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the consequence of his ill-fated and, as revealed, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the issuance of biographical works giving more disturbing particulars of his actions and that of his companions.

More information have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his contact with a convicted criminal.

People (and the press) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to defend him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals realized that. The one imperative is to transfer the crown, if not as previously at least complete and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, proving they are useful, accountable and responsive to their people.

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

Consequences

Ultimately, the notoriously hesitant king was pressured more. There was little choice. The palace had relinquished authority of the account.

Now it is the removal of honorifics and the ongoing and lifetime social disgrace that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The primary member to lose his honorifics in contemporary era
• Military Service: Notably hurtful given his role in the engagement

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 truly come to pass.

Coming Developments

Can persons he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Will they even say Mr,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the monarchy's vast estate at Sandringham.

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

This is not his former home, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of US Congress to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could lawmakers request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Possibly for the present the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The message from the palace was plainly that the stripping of designations was what the sovereign, and notably other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

Altered Approach

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the short announcement showed evidently that the institution were aligning with the accuser's narrative of occurrences.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed regard for the affected individuals: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the fact that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, self-seeking and inactivity that will destroy the crown. In his folly, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew appears never to have grasped that truth.