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The saga started with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while another individual grinned conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Without that photograph, taken at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a young woman who stated she was trafficked across the sea and forced to have perfunctory relations with a member of the royal bloodline?

A curious, telling gesture by someone who had publicly asserted to have not heard of her, said he could not have had relations with her, and yet handed over a large amount of family resources to avert a protracted legal case.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

In this context, talk of the royal family acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and another snapshot of Andrew walking pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Hubris: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his aides and the police were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he openly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Travel were listed in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the arrogance which required subservience when he entered a space or the profound obsession about his honorifics used on his official documents in messages to his friends.

He could get away with it while his parent, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his catastrophic and, as revealed, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the issuance of books giving more troubling particulars of his actions and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could escape deceiving about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

People (and the media) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent family members realized that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as previously at least intact and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of earlier rulers, proving they are valuable, dutiful and reactive to their citizens.

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

The Fallout

Eventually, the notoriously uncertain sovereign was pushed more. There was no other option. The royal household had lost control of the account.

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

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The initial royal to surrender his designations in recent history
• Armed Forces: Notably stinging given his role in the Falklands war

He is still a constitutional officer, on paper able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but not any of these will ever come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he comes across still acknowledge him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the royal family's vast estate at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be furnished by the king with one of the estate properties and given some sort of financial support.

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

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the possession of US Congress to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will parliament seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the improper use of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Possibly for the time being the institutional damage to the institution is contained. The narrative from the royal household was plainly that the stripping of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

Changed Stance

An end to pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the short announcement showed clearly that the royals were aligning with the victim's version of events.

Even more, for the first time they eventually showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are deemed necessary, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, selfishness and inactivity that will kill the crown. In his stupidity, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew seems never to have understood that reality.