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

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a teenage girl, while a companion beamed conspiratorially in the rear.

Without that photograph, shot at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a adolescent who said she was moved across the ocean and obliged to have cursory relations with a member of the monarchy?

A curious, revealing gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have never known about her, claimed he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's resources to avert a drawn-out legal case.

A Long Period of Scandal

In this context, discussions of the royals acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This controversy has continued for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and a further snapshot of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Self-importance: How long did his siblings, maybe even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable companions given he unabashedly welcomed them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were listed in public records: chopper travel from the estate to a country club and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Furthermore the entitlement which demanded subservience when he entered a area or the extreme consciousness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least revoke him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the issuance of accounts giving more troubling details of his actions and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could avoid being untruthful about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the press) were far in advance of the royal family. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to pass on the monarchy, if not as before at least complete and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the image of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and reactive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an era when deference and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the famously uncertain monarch was pressured further. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the account.

Now it is the removal of titles and the continued and permanent public humiliation that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The primary monarch to forfeit his titles in modern times
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his duty in the conflict

He continues to be a counsellor of state, theoretically able to substitute for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but none of these will truly come to pass.

Coming Developments

Can persons he comes across still show respect to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Would they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the sovereign's large property at a royal residence.

In that place, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of private allowance.

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still records in the hands of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Political Pressure: Could legislators request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the improper use of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Maybe for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the institution is limited. The statement from the royal household was evidently that the revocation of designations was what the king, and particularly other senior royals, wanted.

Changed Stance

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the brief communication showed clearly that the monarchy were siding with the victim's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed concern for the affected individuals: "These actions are considered essential, despite the reality that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and inactivity that will destroy the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew appears never to have grasped that reality.