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The saga started with a isolated photograph, arguably the most significant ever snapped of a royal family member.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while a companion smiled suggestively in the rear.

Without that photograph, captured at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who stated she was trafficked across the sea and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a prince of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative action by someone who had publicly stated to have never heard of her, claimed he could no have had sex with her, and yet provided millions of family funds to settle a drawn-out lawsuit.

Years of Scandal

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has continued for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and a further image of Andrew strolling congenially with a notorious individual came to light.

• Hubris: For what duration did his family members, possibly even his relatives, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his staff and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable companions given he openly welcomed them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Trips were documented in official documents: helicopter transfers from the palace to a country club and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Additionally the arrogance which required respect when he walked into a space or the profound obsession about his royal titles used on his official documents in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who unaccountably indulged him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least revoke him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, as revealed, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of biographical works giving more disturbing information of his actions and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could escape lying about his contact with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the media) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any consequence to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent royals realized that. The one imperative is to hand down the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least whole and untarnished.

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

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

The Fallout

Finally, the notoriously uncertain king was prodded additional. There was no other option. The institution had lost control of the story.

Presently the stripping of designations and the continued and lifetime personal shame that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to surrender his designations in modern times
• Armed Forces: Especially stinging given his duty in the conflict

He is still a royal advisor, on paper able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but not any of these will ever occur.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Sir? Might they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's vast grounds at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

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

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still records in the possession of US Congress to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will lawmakers demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the waste of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Possibly for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The message from the institution was evidently that the stripping of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, sought.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the concise announcement showed plainly that the royals were supporting the complainant's account of incidents.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed regard for the survivors: "The censures are considered essential, despite the fact that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-interest and laziness that will undermine the crown. In his foolishness, self-gratification and greed, Andrew appears never to have grasped that lesson.