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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most significant ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a young woman, while an associate grinned conspiratorially in the rear.

Absent that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a teenager who declared she was transported across the Atlantic and forced to have perfunctory intimate contact with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had openly asserted to have no been aware of her, asserted he could never have had sex with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of family funds to avert a protracted legal case.

Years of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, talk of the royals acting decisively to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This scandal has endured for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling congenially with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his employees and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he unabashedly invited them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Journeys were listed in official documents: chopper transfers from the palace to a sporting venue 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

Then there was the arrogance which required subservience when he entered a room or the extreme awareness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who strangely pampered him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the release of biographical works giving more troubling information of his conduct and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could escape lying about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

People (and the media) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was no one of any consequence to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute monarchical figures understood that. The primary concern is to transfer the institution, if not as heretofore at least complete and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of past sovereigns, showing they are beneficial, dutiful and attentive to their citizens.

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

Aftermath

Ultimately, the famously hesitant monarch was prodded additional. There was no alternative. The royal household had lost control of the narrative.

Currently the loss of titles and the ongoing and lifetime personal shame that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner
• Past Example: The initial member to forfeit his honorifics in contemporary era
• Military Service: Notably painful given his role in the engagement

He remains a counsellor of state, in principle able to act for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but none of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Can persons he meets still show respect to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Might they say Mr,

Of course, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the royal family's large property at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some form of personal stipend.

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

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will lawmakers demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the improper use of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Possibly for the present the reputational impact to the monarchy is limited. The message from the palace was plainly that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and especially other senior royals, desired.

Changed Stance

No more deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the concise statement showed evidently that the monarchy were siding with the complainant's version of incidents.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed consideration for the survivors: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will destroy the crown. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that lesson.