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The saga started with a solitary photograph, possibly the most impactful ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a teenage girl, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a young woman who stated she was moved across the sea and forced to have perfunctory relations with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, telling move by someone who had overtly stated to have not been aware of her, said he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a large amount of his mother's funds to avert a protracted legal case.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Considering this, discussions of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This affair has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that image, and another snapshot of Andrew strolling congenially with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his siblings, maybe even his parents, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his staff and the police were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly invited them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Trips were listed in public records: helicopter travel from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the presumption which demanded deference when he appeared in a space or the profound awareness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his friends.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the consequence of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of biographical works giving more grim details of his conduct and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could get away with deceiving about his contact with a convicted criminal.

People (and the press) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was nobody of any importance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more astute monarchical figures understood that. The primary concern is to transfer the institution, if not as previously at least complete and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are valuable, responsible and responsive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an time when respect and discretion is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the famously indecisive sovereign was pushed more. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the account.

Now it is the stripping of designations and the persistent and life-long social disgrace that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The first member to lose his honorifics in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially painful given his service in the Falklands war

He continues to be a royal advisor, in principle able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will truly come to pass.

Coming Developments

Will people he encounters still defer to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's extensive property at a royal residence.

In that place, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the royal residences 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 far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still files in the hands of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could parliament seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the misuse of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the institution is restricted. The narrative from the royal household was plainly that the stripping of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the short communication showed evidently that the monarchy were supporting the victim's narrative of occurrences.

Even more, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "These actions are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the reality that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, self-seeking and laziness that will destroy the crown. In his stupidity, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that reality.