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It all began with a solitary photograph, arguably the most impactful ever captured of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion grinned knowingly in the background.

Lacking that image, captured at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a teenager who stated she was moved across the Atlantic and obliged to have brief sexual encounters with a prince of the royal bloodline?

An odd, telling gesture by someone who had publicly claimed to have never been aware of her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid millions of family funds to settle a drawn-out court action.

Over a Decade of Scandal

In this context, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has endured for the majority of 15 years since that image, and a further photo of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Hubris: To what extent did his family members, possibly even his relatives, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his employees and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he openly hosted them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Trips were printed in official documents: helicopter travel from the palace to a country club and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the presumption which expected respect when he appeared in a room or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his official documents in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who inexplicably pampered him, was still living. The sovereign did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the publication of accounts giving more disturbing particulars of his conduct and that of his companions.

More information have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid being untruthful about his relationship with a notorious figure.

People (and the press) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was no one of any consequence to support him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser royals recognized that. The key objective is to pass on the institution, if not as previously at least complete and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, accountable and attentive to their people.

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

Consequences

Ultimately, the well-known hesitant sovereign was prodded further. There was no alternative. The institution had relinquished authority of the account.

Currently the stripping of designations and the persistent and life-long personal shame that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The initial member to lose his designations in recent history
• Naval Career: Especially hurtful given his service in the conflict

He remains a royal advisor, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but not any of these will actually occur.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Sir,

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

In that place, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some type of financial support.

This is not his former home, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of American legislators to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Could lawmakers demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the misuse of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Possibly for the moment the reputational impact to the monarchy is restricted. The message from the royal household was plainly that the removal of honorifics was what the king, and especially other senior royals, sought.

Altered Approach

No more pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the short announcement showed plainly that the institution were aligning with the complainant's account of incidents.

Furthermore, for the first time they finally showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The censures are judged required, notwithstanding the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

In the end it is entitlement, selfishness and laziness that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew appears never to have learned that reality.