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This episode commenced with a single photograph, arguably the most consequential ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while a companion grinned suggestively in the backdrop.

Without that photograph, captured at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a member of the royal bloodline?

An odd, revealing move by someone who had publicly stated to have no been aware of her, asserted he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over millions of monarchical funds to settle a drawn-out court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

In this context, discussions of the royals acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and a further photo of Andrew strolling congenially with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his siblings, maybe even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his employees and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he unabashedly hosted them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Trips were printed in public records: private aircraft flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which expected subservience when he appeared in a area or the extreme obsession about his designations used on his correspondence in communication to his associates.

He could get away with it while his mother, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least remove him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, we now know, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the publication of biographical works giving more grim information of his conduct and that of his companions.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the press) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was no one of any importance to support him, a outcome of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent family members understood that. The one imperative is to pass on the crown, if not as heretofore at least whole and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of previous monarchs, proving they are beneficial, dutiful and attentive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an age when deference and secrecy is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Eventually, the famously uncertain sovereign was prodded further. There was no alternative. The palace had relinquished authority of the story.

Now it is the removal of honorifics and the persistent and permanent social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to lose his honorifics in modern times
• Naval Career: Particularly stinging given his service in the engagement

He is still a royal advisor, in principle able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but neither of these will actually happen.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the monarchy's large grounds at a royal residence.

In that place, he will be furnished by the king with one of the royal residences and given some sort of financial support.

This differs from his prior accommodation, 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.

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still documents in the custody of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might parliament demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the improper use of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Perhaps for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the institution is limited. The narrative from the institution was evidently that the removal of titles was what the king, and especially other senior royals, wanted.

Changed Stance

An end to pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the concise announcement showed clearly that the royals were aligning with the victim's version of incidents.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the survivors: "These actions are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

In the end it is entitlement, selfishness and indolence that will kill the institution. In his folly, personal excess and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that reality.