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This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, arguably the most impactful ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, with his arm around a female youth, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that photograph, taken at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a teenager who declared she was trafficked across the ocean and forced to have brief intimate contact with a member of the royal bloodline?

An odd, telling action by someone who had overtly stated to have no heard of her, claimed he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a large amount of his mother's funds to resolve a drawn-out court action.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Considering this, discussions of the royals acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and another image of Andrew walking congenially with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Hubris: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his aides and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he openly hosted them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Travel were printed in official documents: private aircraft flights from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which expected respect when he entered a room or the profound obsession about his royal titles used on his correspondence in letters to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who inexplicably indulged him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least strip him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his disastrous and, we now know, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the publication of books giving more troubling information of his actions and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could escape deceiving about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the press) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent royals realized that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as heretofore at least whole and unstained.

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

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

The Fallout

Ultimately, the notoriously indecisive sovereign was pushed further. There was no other option. The institution had surrendered command of the account.

Currently the stripping of designations and the persistent and lifetime personal shame that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The primary member to lose his titles in modern times
• Naval Career: Especially hurtful given his duty in the engagement

He continues to be a royal advisor, theoretically able to act for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but neither of these will ever happen.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he encounters still show respect to him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Might they say Sir,

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

There, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of personal stipend.

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

Unresolved Issues

The situation continues. There are still files in the custody of American legislators to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will parliament seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Possibly for the moment the institutional damage to the institution is contained. The narrative from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of titles was what the king, and particularly other senior royals, wanted.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the brief announcement showed evidently that the monarchy were aligning with the accuser's narrative of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed regard for the survivors: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and laziness that will kill the institution. In his foolishness, personal excess and greed, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.