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This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, arguably the most consequential ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a young woman, while a companion beamed conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that snapshot, taken at a party in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a young woman who declared she was transported across the sea and forced to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a individual of the monarchy?

An odd, telling gesture by someone who had openly asserted to have not known about her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of family money to settle a drawn-out lawsuit.

Years of Controversy

Considering this, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the majority of 15 years since that image, and another snapshot of Andrew walking amiably with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his family members, possibly even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his employees and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he publicly welcomed them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Travel were printed in official documents: helicopter transfers from the palace to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the presumption which expected subservience when he entered a space or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The sovereign did at least remove him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling particulars of his actions and that of his companions.

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

Society (and the media) were far in advance of the royal family. There was not a single person of any importance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The wiser family members recognized that. The key objective is to pass on the monarchy, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of earlier rulers, showing they are valuable, responsible and attentive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in danger in an time when submission and privacy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Finally, the famously hesitant sovereign was prodded further. There was no alternative. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Now it is the loss of titles and the ongoing and permanent personal shame that will pain Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The first monarch to lose his designations in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his role in the conflict

He remains a royal advisor, on paper able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but not any of these will truly occur.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still defer to him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Would they say Sir,

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

At that location, he will be furnished by the king with one of the royal residences and given some form of private allowance.

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might lawmakers demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the waste of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Maybe for the present the reputational impact to the monarchy is contained. The narrative from the institution was plainly that the revocation of titles was what the king, and notably other senior family members, wanted.

Altered Approach

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the short announcement showed evidently that the institution were aligning with the victim's version of incidents.

Additionally, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the victims: "The censures are deemed necessary, regardless of the fact that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Finally it is entitlement, selfishness and laziness that will undermine the institution. In his folly, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that lesson.