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

There stood the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a female youth, while a companion grinned suggestively in the rear.

Lacking that photograph, captured at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a adolescent who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a individual of the royal family?

A curious, revealing gesture by someone who had openly stated to have not heard of her, said he could not have had relations with her, and yet handed over a large amount of family resources to resolve a protracted lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

In this context, discussions of the royal family acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This controversy has continued for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and another photo of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: To what extent did his siblings, maybe even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he publicly invited 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 public records: private aircraft transfers from the palace to a country club and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the arrogance which expected respect when he entered a space or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still living. The sovereign did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling details of his actions and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid lying about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the journalists) were far in advance of the royal family. There was no one of any importance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent family members recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the crown, if not as previously at least intact and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, accountable and responsive to their subjects.

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

The Fallout

Eventually, the well-known uncertain sovereign was pushed additional. There was no other option. The palace had lost control of the narrative.

Now it is the loss of titles and the continued and lifetime personal shame that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to forfeit his titles in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly stinging given his duty in the engagement

He remains a counsellor of state, on paper able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but neither of these will truly occur.

Coming Developments

Will people he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large estate at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be provided by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of private allowance.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might parliament seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Maybe for the time being the reputational impact to the monarchy is limited. The statement from the royal household was evidently that the removal of designations was what the king, and especially other senior royals, sought.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the concise communication showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the complainant's account of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "These actions are deemed necessary, despite the truth that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, self-seeking and inactivity that will undermine the crown. In his folly, personal excess and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.