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It all began with a single photograph, arguably the most impactful ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion smiled conspiratorially in the rear.

Without that photograph, taken at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a teenager who stated she was moved across the ocean and obliged to have cursory intimate contact with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, indicative action by someone who had openly stated to have no been aware of her, claimed he could not have had relations with her, and yet paid millions of family resources to avert a drawn-out legal case.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and a further image of Andrew walking amiably with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his parents, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he openly hosted them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Travel were listed in public records: chopper travel from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the entitlement which expected subservience when he entered a room or the profound obsession about his designations used on his letterheads in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The monarch did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his disastrous and, as revealed, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more grim details of his behavior and that of his associates.

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

Society (and the media) were far in advance of the royal family. There was nobody of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The more astute royals understood that. The primary concern is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and responsive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an era when respect and secrecy is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive monarch was pressured more. There was no other option. The institution had surrendered command of the account.

Presently the removal of designations and the ongoing and permanent social disgrace that will pain Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a commoner
• Past Example: The primary monarch to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Particularly stinging given his role in the Falklands war

He continues to be a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but none of these will truly happen.

Future Prospects

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

Naturally, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the sovereign's large estate at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the custody of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Will lawmakers demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the waste of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Maybe for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The statement from the palace was evidently that the stripping of honorifics was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, desired.

Altered Approach

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the brief announcement showed plainly that the royals were supporting the accuser's narrative of occurrences.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed consideration for the survivors: "These actions are considered essential, notwithstanding the fact that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

Finally it is entitlement, self-seeking and inactivity that will undermine the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-gratification and venality, Andrew appears never to have grasped that reality.