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It all began with a isolated photograph, arguably the most impactful ever captured of a royal family member.

Present was the Duke of York, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual grinned knowingly in the background.

Lacking that image, captured at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the claims of a adolescent who declared she was trafficked across the ocean and compelled to have cursory relations with a individual of the royal bloodline?

An odd, revealing gesture by someone who had openly stated to have not known about her, said he could never have had relations with her, and yet paid a large amount of family money to avert a drawn-out court action.

Years of Disgrace

In this context, discussions of the monarchy acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This scandal has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional snapshot of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his family members, perhaps even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his aides and the police were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he publicly invited them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Journeys were documented in royal annual reports: helicopter transfers from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Furthermore the entitlement which demanded respect when he walked into a space or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his official documents in communication to his friends.

He could get away with it while his mother, who unaccountably pampered him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the consequence of his ill-fated and, as revealed, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of books giving more disturbing details of his actions and that of his connections.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

People (and the press) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more astute royals understood that. The key objective is to transfer the crown, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an era when deference and privacy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Ultimately, the famously hesitant sovereign was pressured more. There was little choice. The royal household had surrendered command of the narrative.

Currently the loss of honorifics and the continued and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The primary royal to forfeit his titles in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Especially hurtful given his role in the conflict

He continues to be a royal advisor, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but neither of these will ever happen.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Would they say Mr,

Naturally, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the sovereign's large property at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some type of personal stipend.

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still records in the custody of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could legislators seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is contained. The statement from the royal household was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

Changed Stance

No more pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the concise communication showed plainly that the royals were siding with the accuser's version of events.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed consideration for the survivors: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will undermine the crown. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew appears never to have understood that truth.