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It all began with a single photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Duke of York, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Without that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a adolescent who declared she was moved across the sea and compelled to have brief sexual encounters with a individual of the monarchy?

A curious, telling move by someone who had openly asserted to have never been aware of her, said he could never have had sex with her, and yet handed over a large amount of family funds to avert a drawn-out lawsuit.

Years of Controversy

Considering this, talk of the monarchy acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the majority of 15 years since that image, and a further image of Andrew walking pleasantly with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his parents, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he openly hosted them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Travel were listed in royal annual reports: private aircraft transfers from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the presumption which demanded respect when he appeared in a room or the profound obsession about his royal titles used on his correspondence in messages to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who inexplicably pampered him, was still living. The Queen did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of accounts giving more troubling particulars of his conduct and that of his companions.

More information have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could escape being untruthful about his contact with a convicted criminal.

People (and the journalists) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was nobody of any consequence to support him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute family members recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as before at least intact and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of previous monarchs, showing they are valuable, dutiful and reactive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in peril in an time when respect and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the notoriously uncertain king was pressured more. There was no alternative. The royal household had lost control of the narrative.

Presently the loss of designations and the persistent and permanent social disgrace that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The first member to forfeit his designations in recent history
• Naval Career: Notably painful given his role in the conflict

He remains a constitutional officer, theoretically able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but not any of these will actually come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he meets still show respect to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Would they say Sir,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large property at Sandringham.

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

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will legislators seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the waste of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Perhaps for the time being the institutional damage to the institution is restricted. The narrative from the royal household was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the sovereign, and especially other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the short communication showed evidently that the institution were siding with the victim's account of incidents.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The censures are deemed necessary, despite the truth that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

In the end it is presumption, self-interest and inactivity that will destroy the crown. In his folly, personal excess and greed, Andrew seems never to have grasped that reality.