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

Present was the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a female youth, while an associate grinned suggestively in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, shot at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a teenager who said she was transported across the Atlantic and compelled to have perfunctory relations with a individual of the monarchy?

A curious, telling action by someone who had publicly asserted to have not heard of her, claimed he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over a large amount of monarchical resources to resolve a drawn-out lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

Considering this, talk of the royals acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This controversy has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional image of Andrew walking pleasantly with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his aides and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he unabashedly hosted them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Travel were printed in official documents: private aircraft transfers from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Additionally the arrogance which demanded deference when he appeared in a area or the extreme obsession about his honorifics used on his correspondence in letters to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least revoke him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his ill-fated and, we now know, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more disturbing information of his behavior and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his relationship with a notorious figure.

Society (and the press) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any significance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute family members recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the institution, if not as heretofore at least complete and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of previous monarchs, proving they are valuable, accountable and responsive to their people.

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

Aftermath

Ultimately, the well-known uncertain sovereign was pressured further. There was no alternative. The institution had lost control of the story.

Currently the stripping of designations and the continued and life-long public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Reduction: Reduced to just a commoner
• Past Example: The first royal to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Military Service: Notably stinging given his duty in the engagement

He continues to be a constitutional officer, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but neither of these will truly occur.

Future Prospects

Can persons he encounters still defer to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Would they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's extensive estate at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of private allowance.

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

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still files in the custody of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could parliament request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Possibly for the time being the institutional damage to the monarchy is limited. The message from the institution was evidently that the removal of designations was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, sought.

Altered Approach

No more deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the brief communication showed clearly that the royals were aligning with the accuser's account of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they finally showed concern for the victims: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the fact that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, selfishness and indolence that will undermine the institution. In his stupidity, self-gratification and venality, Andrew appears never to have understood that reality.