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The saga started with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while an associate beamed suggestively in the backdrop.

Lacking that snapshot, taken at a party in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who said she was trafficked across the sea and forced to have cursory sexual encounters with a individual of the royal family?

An odd, indicative action by someone who had openly asserted to have not known about her, asserted he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid millions of monarchical funds to resolve a protracted legal case.

A Long Period of Scandal

Against this backdrop, talk of the royal family acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This affair has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew strolling amiably with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Arrogance: How long did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he unabashedly welcomed them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Trips were documented in official documents: chopper travel from the estate to a country club and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the entitlement which expected subservience when he appeared in a room or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his correspondence in communication to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The monarch did at least revoke him of official roles and military positions in the consequence of his disastrous and, as revealed, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling details of his conduct and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with being untruthful about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the journalists) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more astute royals realized that. The key objective is to transfer the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of past sovereigns, showing they are valuable, responsible and responsive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an era when respect and privacy is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously uncertain sovereign was pressured more. There was no alternative. The institution had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the loss of designations and the continued and life-long personal shame that will pain Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The first member to forfeit his titles in recent history
• Naval Career: Especially painful given his role in the Falklands war

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

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he meets still acknowledge him? Could they still slip up and call him Prince? Would they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the sovereign's extensive estate at a monarchical property.

There, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some sort of private allowance.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the possession of US Congress to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might legislators request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the monarchy is restricted. The narrative from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of designations was what the king, and notably other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

Changed Stance

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the brief statement showed evidently that the institution were aligning with the accuser's version of events.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "These actions are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Finally it is presumption, self-seeking and laziness that will destroy the crown. In his folly, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew appears never to have understood that lesson.