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The saga started with a single photograph, perhaps the most significant ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate grinned knowingly in the backdrop.

Absent that image, captured at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a young woman who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and forced to have cursory relations with a member of the royal bloodline?

A curious, indicative action by someone who had openly stated to have not been aware of her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of monarchical funds to resolve a protracted legal case.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Considering this, discussions of the monarchy acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This affair has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and an additional image of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, possibly even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable friends given he unabashedly hosted them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Travel were listed in royal annual reports: private aircraft transfers from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Additionally the arrogance which required subservience when he appeared in a space or the extreme awareness about his royal titles used on his official documents in messages to his associates.

He could get away with it while his parent, who strangely pampered him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least strip him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the release of accounts giving more disturbing information of his actions and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid being untruthful about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

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

Institutional Fears

The more astute monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to pass on the monarchy, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are useful, accountable and reactive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an era when submission and privacy is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Eventually, the famously indecisive sovereign was pressured further. There was no alternative. The palace had lost control of the narrative.

Presently the removal of designations and the persistent and lifetime personal shame that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The initial royal to lose his honorifics in modern times
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his duty in the conflict

He remains a royal advisor, on paper able to substitute for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but neither of these will ever occur.

Future Prospects

Will people he encounters still defer to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Might they say Andrew,

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

At that location, he will be provided by the king with one of the royal residences and given some type of financial support.

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

Unresolved Issues

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might parliament seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Possibly for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the institution is restricted. The message from the institution was plainly that the revocation of designations was what the sovereign, and especially other senior family members, wanted.

Altered Approach

An end to pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the brief communication showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the complainant's narrative of events.

Furthermore, for the first time they ultimately showed regard for the survivors: "The censures are judged required, notwithstanding the fact that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

In the end it is presumption, self-seeking and laziness that will destroy the institution. In his stupidity, personal excess and greed, Andrew seems never to have understood that truth.