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This episode commenced with a single photograph, arguably the most significant ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a teenage girl, while another individual beamed conspiratorially in the background.

Absent that photograph, shot at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who stated she was trafficked across the ocean and compelled to have cursory relations with a prince of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative gesture by someone who had overtly claimed to have not heard of her, said he could never have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's money to avert a drawn-out court action.

Years of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, discussions of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This affair has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that image, and another image of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Hubris: How long did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his parents, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his employees and the police were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he publicly hosted them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Journeys were documented in official documents: chopper travel from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the arrogance which required deference when he appeared in a space or the extreme awareness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still alive. The Queen did at least strip him of official roles and military positions in the aftermath of his disastrous and, it is now clear, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the issuance of biographical works giving more troubling details of his actions and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid being untruthful about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

People (and the media) were far in advance of the royal family. There was nobody of any consequence to speak up for him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent monarchical figures understood that. The one imperative is to hand down the institution, if not as previously at least complete and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are beneficial, responsible and attentive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an time when submission and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Eventually, the well-known uncertain sovereign was prodded more. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the account.

Currently the removal of designations and the ongoing and life-long personal shame that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The initial monarch to surrender his titles in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Particularly hurtful given his service in the Falklands war

He remains a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but neither of these will truly occur.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he encounters still acknowledge him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Might they say Sir,

Of course, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the sovereign's extensive grounds at Sandringham.

There, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some sort of private allowance.

It is not his former home, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might parliament seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the waste of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Maybe for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The message from the royal household was clearly that the removal of titles was what the sovereign, and especially other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Altered Approach

No more pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the concise statement showed clearly that the institution were siding with the victim's version of incidents.

Furthermore, for the first time they ultimately showed consideration for the survivors: "The measures are considered essential, notwithstanding the reality that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-seeking and indolence that will kill the monarchy. In his stupidity, personal excess and venality, Andrew seems never to have learned that reality.