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It all began with a single photograph, possibly the most significant ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, with his arm around a young woman, while an associate smiled suggestively in the background.

Absent that image, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a young woman who declared she was moved across the ocean and obliged to have brief sexual encounters with a member of the monarchy?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had publicly stated to have no been aware of her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of his mother's funds to avert a long-delayed lawsuit.

Years of Controversy

Considering this, discussions of the royal family acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This affair has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and another image of Andrew walking congenially with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his siblings, maybe even his parents, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his employees and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he unabashedly invited them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Journeys were listed in royal annual reports: helicopter travel from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Furthermore the entitlement which required subservience when he entered a area or the extreme awareness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in communication to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who unaccountably pampered him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least remove him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the release of biographical works giving more troubling details of his actions and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with deceiving about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the press) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to defend him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent family members understood that. The one imperative is to transfer the crown, if not as before at least intact and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are beneficial, dutiful and reactive to their subjects.

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

The Fallout

Eventually, the well-known hesitant king was pushed further. There was no alternative. The palace had lost control of the story.

Currently the stripping of designations and the continued and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The first royal to surrender his titles in recent history
• Naval Career: Notably painful given his role in the conflict

He continues to be a constitutional officer, in principle able to substitute for the king, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but neither of these will ever happen.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he encounters still acknowledge him? Could they still slip up and call him Prince? Will they even say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's large estate at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Pending Matters

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Could lawmakers demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The narrative from the palace was clearly that the stripping of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Altered Approach

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the concise statement showed evidently that the monarchy were aligning with the accuser's version of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed concern for the affected individuals: "These actions are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, selfishness and laziness that will undermine the crown. In his folly, self-gratification and venality, Andrew seems never to have understood that lesson.