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The saga started with a solitary photograph, arguably the most impactful ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that photograph, captured at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a adolescent who declared she was trafficked across the sea and obliged to have brief intimate contact with a prince of the monarchy?

A strange, telling gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have not known about her, said he could never have had sex with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical money to resolve a protracted lawsuit.

Years of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This controversy has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and another image of Andrew ambling amiably with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his family members, perhaps even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he unabashedly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Journeys were listed in royal annual reports: chopper flights from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Furthermore the arrogance which demanded subservience when he appeared in a room or the profound consciousness about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his friends.

He could get away with it while his mother, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least strip him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the consequence of his disastrous and, as revealed, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the publication of books giving more grim details of his conduct and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could avoid being untruthful about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the press) were far ahead of the royals. 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 intelligent royals recognized that. The key objective is to transfer the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least intact and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the image of past sovereigns, showing they are valuable, accountable and attentive to their people.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an era when respect and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Eventually, the famously uncertain monarch was pushed more. There was no other option. The royal household had relinquished authority of the story.

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

• Demotion: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The first royal to lose his honorifics in modern times
• Naval Career: Especially hurtful given his service in the Falklands war

He is still a royal advisor, on paper able to act for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly happen.

Future Prospects

Can persons he encounters still defer to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Will they even say Andrew,

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

At that location, he will be provided by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of financial support.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the custody of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will legislators demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the misuse of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Possibly for the moment the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The narrative from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of designations was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, desired.

Altered Approach

No more deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the short announcement showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the accuser's narrative of occurrences.

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

In the end it is presumption, selfishness and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew seems never to have learned that lesson.