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

There stood the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a teenage girl, while an associate smiled knowingly in the rear.

Absent that snapshot, captured at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who said she was transported across the sea and obliged to have brief sexual encounters with a individual of the royal family?

An odd, indicative move by someone who had publicly asserted to have not known about her, claimed he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a large amount of monarchical money to settle a protracted court action.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, discussions of the royals acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that image, and a further image of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light.

• Self-importance: How long did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his aides and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he unabashedly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Journeys were printed in official documents: helicopter transfers from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the presumption which required respect when he entered a area or the profound awareness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his friends.

He could get away with it while his parent, who unaccountably indulged him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, we now know, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the release of books giving more grim information of his conduct and that of his connections.

More information have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid deceiving about his contact with a notorious figure.

The public (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any importance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

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

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of previous monarchs, showing they are valuable, dutiful and attentive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in peril in an time when respect and discretion is no longer enough.

Consequences

Finally, the famously uncertain king was prodded further. There was no other option. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Presently the removal of designations and the ongoing and lifetime personal shame that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The first royal to surrender his titles in modern times
• Armed Forces: Notably hurtful given his role in the Falklands war

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

Coming Developments

Will people he meets still defer to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Will they even say Mr,

Naturally, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's large property at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some form of private allowance.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still documents in the custody of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Political Pressure: Could legislators request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the improper use of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Maybe for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The statement from the institution was plainly that the revocation of designations was what the king, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the short communication showed clearly that the royals were aligning with the accuser's version of incidents.

Furthermore, for the first time they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "The censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

In the end it is entitlement, selfishness and indolence that will kill the crown. In his foolishness, personal excess and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that reality.