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This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, possibly the most significant ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while an associate grinned knowingly in the rear.

Absent that snapshot, shot at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who declared she was trafficked across the sea and forced to have brief sexual encounters with a member of the royal bloodline?

A strange, telling move by someone who had publicly asserted to have no known about her, asserted he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of his mother's funds to settle a protracted legal case.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, talk of the royal family acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and a further photo of Andrew strolling congenially with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: To what extent did his siblings, maybe even his parents, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he publicly welcomed them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Journeys were printed in official documents: chopper transfers from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the arrogance which demanded subservience when he entered a room or the profound consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least revoke him of public duties and military positions in the consequence of his ill-fated and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of accounts giving more grim particulars of his conduct and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could get away with lying about his contact with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the journalists) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was nobody of any consequence to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The wiser monarchical figures realized that. The one imperative is to hand down the monarchy, if not as before at least intact and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are valuable, accountable and responsive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an age when submission and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the famously indecisive monarch was pushed more. There was little choice. The royal household had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the stripping of honorifics and the continued and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to lose his titles in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his duty in the conflict

He is still a counsellor of state, on paper able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but none of these will actually come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he encounters still defer to him? Could they still slip up and call him Prince? Will they even say Sir,

Certainly, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's vast estate at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some type of private allowance.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still files in the custody of American legislators to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might parliament request additional information
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the misuse of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the crown is contained. The narrative from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of titles was what the king, and particularly other senior family members, sought.

Altered Approach

An end to pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the brief communication showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the accuser's account of incidents.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed regard for the survivors: "The censures are considered essential, notwithstanding the reality that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

In the end it is entitlement, self-interest and laziness that will undermine the crown. In his folly, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew appears never to have learned that truth.