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It all began with a solitary photograph, possibly the most consequential ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

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

Absent that photograph, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a adolescent who stated she was transported across the sea and compelled to have cursory relations with a member of the royal bloodline?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had openly asserted to have not known about her, asserted he could not have had relations with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of family money to settle a drawn-out court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Against this backdrop, conversations of the monarchy acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Hubris: How long did his siblings, maybe even his parents, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he publicly hosted them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Trips were printed in royal annual reports: chopper transfers from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Then there was the presumption which demanded deference when he walked into a room or the supreme obsession about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who inexplicably pampered him, was still alive. The monarch did at least strip him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his disastrous and, we now know, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling information of his conduct and that of his connections.

More information have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with lying about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royal family. There was no one of any importance to support him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the monarchy, if not as before at least complete and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of previous monarchs, proving they are beneficial, responsible and attentive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an age when respect and secrecy is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Ultimately, the notoriously uncertain king was pushed additional. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the account.

Presently the loss of designations and the continued and permanent public humiliation that will pain Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The initial royal to surrender his titles in recent history
• Military Service: Especially hurtful given his service in the Falklands war

He remains a royal advisor, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but not any of these will ever occur.

Coming Developments

Will people he encounters still show respect to him? Will they still slip up and call him Sir? Will they even say Mr,

Of course, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the royal family's large estate at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some type of financial support.

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

The situation continues. There are still documents in the custody of American legislators to be revealed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the waste of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Maybe for the present the institutional damage to the monarchy is limited. The statement from the palace was clearly that the revocation of titles was what the king, and particularly other senior royals, wanted.

Changed Stance

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the concise announcement showed evidently that the royals were aligning with the complainant's account of occurrences.

Additionally, for the initial instance they finally showed concern for the affected individuals: "These actions are judged required, despite the fact that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will destroy the monarchy. In his folly, self-gratification and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that reality.