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

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while a companion smiled conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Without that image, shot at a party in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a teenager who stated she was transported across the Atlantic and obliged to have cursory intimate contact with a member of the royal bloodline?

A strange, telling action by someone who had publicly asserted to have no known about her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet handed over millions of monarchical funds to settle a drawn-out legal case.

Over a Decade of Scandal

In this context, conversations of the royals acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This scandal has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and another image of Andrew strolling congenially with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his siblings, possibly even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his aides and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable companions given he publicly invited them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Journeys were documented in public records: chopper flights from the palace to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the arrogance which expected subservience when he entered a space or the supreme obsession about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely indulged him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least strip him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the issuance of books giving more disturbing particulars of his actions and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid being untruthful about his relationship with a notorious figure.

People (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to support him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more astute family members understood that. The primary concern is to transfer the institution, if not as heretofore at least intact and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of earlier rulers, proving they are beneficial, responsible and responsive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in danger in an time when deference and discretion is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Ultimately, the famously hesitant monarch was prodded more. There was no alternative. The institution had surrendered command of the account.

Currently the stripping of honorifics and the continued and permanent public humiliation that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The primary member to surrender his honorifics in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Especially stinging given his duty in the conflict

He is still a constitutional officer, theoretically able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but neither of these will ever occur.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he comes across still acknowledge him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Might they say Sir,

Of course, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's vast estate at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some form of financial support.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still records in the custody of American legislators to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will lawmakers seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the waste of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Possibly for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the crown is limited. The message from the palace was plainly that the stripping of honorifics was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior royals, sought.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the short statement showed clearly that the institution were siding with the complainant's account of occurrences.

Even more, for the initial instance they eventually showed concern for the affected individuals: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-seeking and inactivity that will undermine the crown. In his folly, self-gratification and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that lesson.