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The saga started with a single photograph, possibly the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual grinned knowingly in the background.

Lacking that snapshot, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a young woman who declared she was transported across the ocean and forced to have cursory sexual encounters with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A curious, revealing action by someone who had overtly claimed to have no known about her, claimed he could not have had relations with her, and yet paid millions of his mother's resources to resolve a protracted court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

In this context, talk of the royal family acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has continued for the better part of 15 years since that image, and an additional snapshot of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Hubris: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his parents, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his aides and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable companions given he openly hosted them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Trips were printed in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Then there was the presumption which required respect when he entered a area or the profound consciousness about his designations used on his official documents in communication to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The monarch did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, as revealed, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the release of accounts giving more disturbing particulars of his behavior and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could get away with lying about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was nobody of any importance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The wiser royals understood that. The primary concern is to transfer the crown, if not as heretofore at least whole and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of earlier rulers, showing they are useful, responsible and attentive to their people.

He was placing all that in peril in an era when deference and discretion is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Ultimately, the famously uncertain king was pushed more. There was little choice. The palace had surrendered command of the narrative.

Currently the loss of titles and the persistent and lifetime personal shame that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The first monarch to surrender his honorifics in recent history
• Military Service: Particularly hurtful given his role in the engagement

He continues to be a constitutional officer, theoretically able to substitute for the king, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but not any of these will ever occur.

Coming Developments

Can persons he comes across still acknowledge him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Might they say Mr,

Of course, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's extensive grounds at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be furnished 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 token payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the possession of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Could legislators request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Possibly for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the institution is contained. The statement from the palace was evidently that the stripping of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, sought.

A Shift in Position

No more pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed plainly that the royals were siding with the complainant's account of events.

Furthermore, for the first time they finally showed regard for the victims: "The measures are deemed necessary, despite the reality that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

In the end it is presumption, selfishness and indolence that will kill the institution. In his folly, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that truth.