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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while a companion smiled suggestively in the backdrop.

Lacking that image, captured at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a young woman who stated she was transported across the ocean and forced to have cursory sexual encounters with a member of the royal family?

An odd, indicative gesture by someone who had publicly asserted to have no known about her, claimed he could not have had relations with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of his mother's funds to avert a drawn-out lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Against this backdrop, talk of the royal family acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This scandal has endured for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and another image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Hubris: To what extent did his family members, perhaps even his parents, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his employees and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he openly hosted them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Trips were listed in official documents: chopper transfers from the estate to a country club and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which required subservience when he appeared in a space or the profound consciousness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in communication to his friends.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who unaccountably indulged him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least strip him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the release of accounts giving more disturbing details of his behavior and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his interaction with a notorious figure.

The public (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was no one of any importance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent monarchical figures recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least intact and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of earlier rulers, showing they are beneficial, responsible and reactive to their people.

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

The Fallout

Eventually, the notoriously uncertain king was pushed more. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the account.

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

• Reduction: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The initial monarch to forfeit his titles in modern times
• Naval Career: Particularly painful given his service in the engagement

He is still a constitutional officer, theoretically able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but not any of these will ever come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still acknowledge him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Might they say Sir,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the monarchy's extensive grounds at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be supplied by the king with one of the estate properties and given some form of personal stipend.

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Will lawmakers seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the improper use of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Perhaps for the moment the reputational impact to the institution is limited. The statement from the royal household was evidently that the revocation of designations was what the king, and notably other senior monarchical figures, desired.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the brief communication showed plainly that the monarchy were siding with the accuser's account of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they ultimately showed consideration for the victims: "These actions are considered essential, notwithstanding the fact that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and inactivity that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, personal excess and corruption, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.