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

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion smiled suggestively in the background.

Without that snapshot, shot at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who stated she was moved across the Atlantic and forced to have perfunctory intimate contact with a prince of the royal family?

A curious, telling gesture by someone who had publicly asserted to have not heard of her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of monarchical funds to resolve a protracted legal case.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This affair has continued for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and another image of Andrew strolling congenially with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his aides and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he publicly invited them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Trips were documented in public records: private aircraft travel from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Furthermore the presumption which expected subservience when he walked into a area or the supreme obsession about his designations used on his letterheads in communication to his friends.

He could get away with it while his parent, who strangely indulged him, was still alive. The Queen did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his disastrous and, we now know, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of biographical works giving more troubling particulars of his actions and that of his connections.

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

The public (and the press) were far in advance of the royal family. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals realized that. The one imperative is to transfer the institution, if not as before at least whole and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the image of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are useful, dutiful and responsive to their people.

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

Consequences

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive king was pushed more. There was little choice. The palace had relinquished authority of the account.

Presently the removal of honorifics and the persistent and life-long personal shame that will pain Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The primary royal to surrender his honorifics in modern times
• Naval Career: Particularly stinging given his service in the conflict

He is still a constitutional officer, theoretically able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but neither of these will ever come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he encounters still show respect to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Might they say Sir,

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

In that place, he will be supplied by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of private allowance.

It is not his former home, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still documents in the hands of US Congress to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will lawmakers demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the waste of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the institution is contained. The statement from the palace was clearly that the removal of honorifics was what the sovereign, and notably other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

The cessation of deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the concise announcement showed evidently that the institution were aligning with the accuser's account of occurrences.

Even more, for the initial instance they finally showed regard for the victims: "The measures are judged required, despite the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, selfishness and inactivity that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, personal excess and corruption, Andrew seems never to have understood that reality.