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

There stood the Duke of York, with his arm around a female youth, while a companion grinned knowingly in the background.

Absent that photograph, captured at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a teenager who declared she was moved across the ocean and compelled to have cursory relations with a prince of the royal family?

A curious, telling gesture by someone who had overtly stated to have no been aware of her, claimed he could no have had relations with her, and yet paid a large amount of family money to avert a drawn-out lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Scandal

In this context, talk of the monarchy acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has continued for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional photo of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Self-importance: How long did his siblings, possibly even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he openly hosted them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Trips were printed in public records: private aircraft transfers from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the entitlement which expected subservience when he appeared in a space or the supreme consciousness about his designations used on his correspondence in letters to his associates.

He could get away with it while his parent, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still alive. The monarch did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his disastrous and, we now know, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of books giving more troubling details of his behavior and that of his connections.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could get away with lying about his interaction with a notorious figure.

People (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was not a single person of any consequence to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent monarchical figures realized that. The one imperative is to transfer the institution, if not as previously at least complete and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are valuable, accountable and reactive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an era when deference and discretion is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Finally, the well-known indecisive monarch was pressured further. There was no other option. The institution had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Presently the removal of designations and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will pain Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The first member to lose his designations in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially stinging given his duty in the engagement

He is still a constitutional officer, theoretically able to act for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but neither of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Might they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the royal family's vast property at Sandringham.

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

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the custody of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could legislators demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the improper use of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Maybe for the present the harm to the monarchy to the institution is contained. The narrative from the royal household was evidently that the stripping of titles was what the king, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, sought.

A Shift in Position

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the short statement showed clearly that the royals were supporting the complainant's account of occurrences.

Additionally, for the first time they ultimately showed regard for the victims: "The measures are considered essential, despite the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-interest and laziness that will kill the monarchy. In his folly, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.