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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, possibly the most significant ever captured of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a teenage girl, while a companion beamed suggestively in the rear.

Absent that image, captured at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a young woman who said she was moved across the Atlantic and forced to have perfunctory intimate contact with a individual of the royal family?

A strange, indicative gesture by someone who had openly asserted to have never heard of her, asserted he could never have had sex with her, and yet provided a large amount of monarchical funds to avert a drawn-out lawsuit.

A Long Period of Scandal

Against this backdrop, talk of the royals acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This scandal has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and an additional image of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Hubris: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his employees and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable companions given he unabashedly invited them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were documented in official documents: chopper transfers from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the entitlement which required subservience when he walked into a room or the supreme obsession about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his friends.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who strangely pampered him, was still alive. The Queen did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his ill-fated and, as revealed, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the issuance of books giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could avoid lying about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any consequence to defend him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more astute family members recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the monarchy, if not as before at least whole and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in danger in an age when respect and privacy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Finally, the famously hesitant sovereign was prodded additional. There was no other option. The institution had relinquished authority of the account.

Currently the loss of titles and the continued and life-long public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The initial royal to surrender his designations in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Particularly hurtful given his duty in the conflict

He remains a counsellor of state, theoretically able to stand in for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but neither of these will actually happen.

Coming Developments

Will people he meets still acknowledge him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Will they even say Andrew,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's vast estate at a royal residence.

There, he will be furnished by the king with one of the estate properties and given some sort of financial support.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Could parliament request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Perhaps for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is contained. The narrative from the palace was evidently that the removal of titles was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

The cessation of deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the brief announcement showed evidently that the monarchy were aligning with the complainant's account of events.

Furthermore, for the first time they eventually showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the reality that he continues to deny the claims against him."

In the end it is entitlement, selfishness and laziness that will kill the crown. In his stupidity, personal excess and corruption, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.