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

Present was the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion smiled suggestively in the backdrop.

Lacking that image, taken at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a teenager who declared she was moved across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory relations with a prince of the royal bloodline?

An odd, telling gesture by someone who had openly stated to have never been aware of her, claimed he could no have had relations with her, and yet handed over millions of monarchical money to resolve a protracted legal case.

A Long Period of Controversy

Considering this, discussions of the royals acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This controversy has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further photo of Andrew ambling amiably with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his staff and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable companions given he unabashedly welcomed them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Travel were documented in official documents: chopper flights from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the arrogance which demanded respect when he appeared in a space or the profound awareness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The sovereign did at least revoke him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, we now know, mendacious public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of biographical works giving more troubling particulars of his conduct and that of his companions.

More information have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the journalists) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The wiser royals recognized that. The primary concern is to hand down the crown, if not as before at least intact and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are useful, responsible and responsive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an era when submission and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive monarch was pressured more. There was little choice. The institution had relinquished authority of the narrative.

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

• Reduction: Reduced to just a commoner
• Past Example: The first member to lose his designations in modern times
• Naval Career: Particularly hurtful given his role in the engagement

He is still a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but neither of these will truly happen.

Coming Developments

Will people he meets still defer to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Will they even say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's vast estate at a monarchical property.

There, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of personal stipend.

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

Pending Matters

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the institution is restricted. The message from the royal household was plainly that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and especially other senior royals, wanted.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise communication showed evidently that the institution were siding with the accuser's account of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they eventually showed consideration for the victims: "The measures are deemed necessary, despite the fact that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will undermine the institution. In his stupidity, personal excess and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that reality.