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It all began with a isolated photograph, perhaps 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 smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that photograph, shot at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the claims of a young woman who declared she was transported across the ocean and forced to have brief relations with a member of the monarchy?

An odd, telling action by someone who had overtly asserted to have never heard of her, asserted he could never have had sex with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of monarchical resources to avert a protracted court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

In this context, discussions of the monarchy acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This affair has endured for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and another snapshot of Andrew walking pleasantly with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he openly invited them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Travel were printed in official documents: helicopter transfers from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the presumption which expected respect when he appeared in a room or the profound awareness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who unaccountably pampered him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least strip him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the release of biographical works giving more disturbing information of his conduct and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could avoid lying about his contact with a notorious figure.

The public (and the press) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was nobody of any consequence to defend him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The wiser monarchical figures understood that. The primary concern is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least complete and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, responsible and responsive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in peril in an era when submission and discretion is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the notoriously uncertain sovereign was prodded additional. There was little choice. The palace had relinquished authority of the account.

Currently the removal of titles and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will afflict Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The initial royal to surrender his honorifics in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Notably painful given his service in the conflict

He continues to be a counsellor of state, theoretically able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but not any of these will truly happen.

Future Prospects

Will people he meets still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Would they say Andrew,

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

In that place, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of personal stipend.

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 sufficiently removed.

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still records in the possession of US Congress to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might parliament demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the improper use of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Maybe for the time being the institutional damage to the monarchy is limited. The statement from the palace was clearly that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and notably other senior family members, wanted.

Altered Approach

No more deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the concise announcement showed evidently that the institution were siding with the victim's version of occurrences.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "The censures are considered essential, despite the reality that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-seeking and laziness that will destroy the institution. In his foolishness, personal excess and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that reality.