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It all began with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most significant ever snapped of a royal family member.

There stood the Duke of York, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual grinned conspiratorially in the background.

Absent that image, taken at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a teenager who stated she was moved across the ocean and obliged to have perfunctory intimate contact with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A curious, indicative action by someone who had openly claimed to have not known about her, said he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of his mother's resources to resolve a drawn-out court action.

Years of Disgrace

In this context, talk of the royal family acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This controversy has continued for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and another photo of Andrew ambling congenially with a notorious individual emerged.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his aides and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he unabashedly welcomed them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Travel were listed in royal annual reports: chopper flights from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the arrogance which required subservience when he entered a area or the extreme consciousness about his designations used on his letterheads in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his parent, who inexplicably pampered him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his disastrous and, as revealed, untruthful television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the release of books giving more disturbing information of his behavior and that of his companions.

More information have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the journalists) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was no one of any importance to support him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more astute family members understood that. The one imperative is to pass on the institution, if not as heretofore at least complete and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of past sovereigns, showing they are useful, accountable and attentive to their subjects.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an era when respect and discretion is no longer enough.

Consequences

Ultimately, the notoriously indecisive sovereign was pressured further. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the story.

Now it is the stripping of titles and the ongoing and permanent social disgrace that will pain Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The first royal to surrender his titles in modern times
• Naval Career: Especially stinging given his duty in the engagement

He is still a counsellor of state, in principle able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but neither of these will truly occur.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he encounters still acknowledge him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the monarchy's extensive estate at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some form of private allowance.

This is not his former home, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the custody of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could legislators request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the improper use of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Perhaps for the present the institutional damage to the institution is contained. The message from the royal household was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the monarch, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Altered Approach

No more pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the brief communication showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the complainant's version of incidents.

Additionally, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the affected individuals: "The censures are deemed necessary, despite the fact that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

Finally it is presumption, self-seeking and inactivity that will destroy the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-gratification and greed, Andrew seems never to have understood that lesson.