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

There stood the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while an associate grinned knowingly in the backdrop.

Without that photograph, taken at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a young woman who declared she was transported across the sea and compelled to have cursory relations with a individual of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative move by someone who had publicly claimed to have no been aware of her, claimed he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over a large amount of family resources to resolve a protracted lawsuit.

Years of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, discussions of the royal family acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and a further photo of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his family members, possibly even his parents, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he unabashedly welcomed them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Travel were listed in official documents: helicopter flights from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the presumption which required deference when he entered a space or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his official documents in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who inexplicably pampered him, was still living. The monarch did at least strip him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his ill-fated and, we now know, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the publication of accounts giving more disturbing details of his behavior and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his contact with a notorious figure.

Society (and the journalists) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any significance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent monarchical figures realized that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the image of earlier rulers, proving they are valuable, dutiful and reactive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an age when deference and discretion is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Finally, the notoriously uncertain monarch was prodded additional. There was no alternative. The royal household had lost control of the account.

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

• Reduction: Demoted to just a commoner
• Past Example: The primary member to lose his designations in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Particularly hurtful given his service in the engagement

He remains a constitutional officer, theoretically able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but none of these will actually occur.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he meets still show respect to him? Could they still slip up and call him Prince? Would they say Mr,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the monarchy's extensive property at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some form of private allowance.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the custody of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Will parliament demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Perhaps for the present the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is restricted. The message from the royal household was plainly that the revocation of titles was what the monarch, and notably other senior royals, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the concise statement showed evidently that the monarchy were supporting the complainant's account of events.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed concern for the victims: "The measures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-interest and inactivity that will kill the monarchy. In his foolishness, personal excess and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that lesson.