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This episode commenced with a single photograph, arguably the most consequential ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual grinned suggestively in the rear.

Absent that image, taken at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a teenager who stated she was moved across the sea and obliged to have cursory relations with a prince of the royal family?

A strange, telling gesture by someone who had overtly stated to have never known about her, asserted he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided millions of monarchical money to settle a protracted legal case.

Over a Decade of Controversy

In this context, conversations of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that image, and an additional snapshot of Andrew walking pleasantly with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Hubris: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his parents, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his aides and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable friends given he publicly welcomed them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were printed in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the palace to a country club and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the arrogance which expected respect when he appeared in a area or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who unaccountably pampered him, was still living. The monarch did at least remove him of public duties and military positions in the consequence of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of accounts giving more troubling particulars of his actions and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could get away with lying about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the media) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent family members understood that. The primary concern is to transfer the crown, if not as heretofore at least whole and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of previous monarchs, showing they are useful, dutiful and reactive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an age when respect and discretion is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Eventually, the well-known indecisive sovereign was prodded more. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the story.

Now it is the loss of titles and the continued and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The primary monarch to lose his honorifics in recent history
• Military Service: Notably painful given his duty in the conflict

He is still a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but none of these will truly come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he encounters still defer to him? Might they still slip up and call him Prince? Will they even say Mr,

Naturally, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the royal family's large estate at a monarchical property.

There, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of personal stipend.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the custody of overseas authorities to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Will legislators seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the institution is restricted. The narrative from the institution was clearly that the revocation of honorifics was what the sovereign, and notably other senior royals, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the concise statement showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the complainant's version of occurrences.

Additionally, for the first time they eventually showed concern for the survivors: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the fact that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-interest and indolence that will kill the institution. In his folly, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.