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It all began with a isolated photograph, arguably the most impactful ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while a companion smiled suggestively in the background.

Absent that image, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the claims of a teenager who stated she was transported across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, indicative gesture by someone who had overtly claimed to have no been aware of her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's resources to avert a drawn-out legal case.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, discussions of the royals acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional snapshot of Andrew strolling congenially with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his siblings, perhaps even his parents, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his aides and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he openly welcomed them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Travel were listed in royal annual reports: helicopter flights from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the entitlement which expected respect when he entered a room or the supreme obsession about his honorifics used on his letterheads in letters to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least strip him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his disastrous and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the publication of biographical works giving more troubling information of his actions and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with deceiving about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the media) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The wiser family members realized that. The key objective is to pass on the crown, if not as previously at least intact and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of past sovereigns, showing they are beneficial, accountable and responsive to their citizens.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an age when respect and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the well-known uncertain sovereign was pressured further. There was no other option. The institution had surrendered command of the account.

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

• Demotion: Reduced to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The primary member to lose his honorifics in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Particularly painful given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a constitutional officer, on paper able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but not any of these will actually occur.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still defer to him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Will they even say Mr,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the sovereign's large grounds at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of personal stipend.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still files in the possession of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could parliament seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Maybe for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The message from the institution was plainly that the removal of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, wanted.

Changed Stance

An end to illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the concise communication showed evidently that the royals were siding with the accuser's version of incidents.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed consideration for the victims: "These actions are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the reality that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

In the end it is entitlement, self-interest and inactivity that will destroy the crown. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.