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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, arguably the most consequential ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while a companion smiled knowingly in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, captured at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a young woman who said she was trafficked across the sea and compelled to have brief sexual encounters with a member of the monarchy?

An odd, indicative gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have never heard of her, claimed he could not have had relations with her, and yet provided millions of family money to avert a protracted court action.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Considering this, conversations of the royals acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This controversy has endured for the majority of 15 years since that image, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling congenially with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, perhaps even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable companions given he unabashedly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Trips were printed in public records: private aircraft flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the entitlement which expected respect when he appeared in a room or the profound consciousness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his associates.

He could get away with it while his parent, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still alive. The Queen did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the release of books giving more troubling information of his actions and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with being untruthful about his relationship with a notorious figure.

The public (and the press) were far in advance of the royal family. There was nobody of any importance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The wiser royals recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the crown, if not as before at least whole and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the image of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and responsive to their citizens.

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

Aftermath

Finally, the notoriously uncertain king was pushed more. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the account.

Now it is the removal of designations and the ongoing and permanent personal shame that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The first member to lose his designations in modern times
• Military Service: Especially painful given his role in the Falklands war

He remains a royal advisor, in principle able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but none of these will truly happen.

Coming Developments

Will people he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Prince? Might they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's large estate at Sandringham.

There, he will be provided by the king with one of the estate properties and given some type of private allowance.

It is not his previous residence, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still files in the hands of American legislators to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might legislators seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Perhaps for the present the institutional damage to the crown is limited. The narrative from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of designations was what the monarch, and notably other senior family members, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the concise statement showed clearly that the monarchy were aligning with the accuser's version of events.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed consideration for the victims: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the truth that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

Finally it is presumption, selfishness and inactivity that will destroy the crown. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.