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This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Absent that image, captured at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a adolescent who said she was moved across the sea and compelled to have brief relations with a prince of the monarchy?

An odd, telling gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have no heard of her, said he could not have had relations with her, and yet provided a large amount of family funds to avert a protracted legal case.

A Long Period of Scandal

In this context, conversations of the royals acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has endured for the better part of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew walking amiably with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: 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 hosted them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Trips were listed in official documents: chopper flights from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the entitlement which expected subservience when he walked into a area or the supreme awareness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his friends.

He could get away with it while his mother, who strangely spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least strip him of official roles and military positions in the wake of his ill-fated and, we now know, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of books giving more disturbing information of his actions and that of his companions.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could avoid deceiving about his contact with a convicted criminal.

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

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent monarchical figures recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the institution, if not as heretofore at least intact and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, proving they are beneficial, accountable and reactive to their people.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an time when deference and discretion is no longer enough.

Consequences

Eventually, the notoriously uncertain monarch was pressured further. There was little choice. The royal household had surrendered command of the account.

Now it is the removal of honorifics and the continued and life-long social disgrace that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The initial royal to lose his honorifics in modern times
• Armed Forces: Especially painful given his service in the conflict

He continues to be a counsellor of state, theoretically able to act for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but neither of these will ever happen.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he encounters still acknowledge him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew,

Of course, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's extensive grounds at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some sort of financial support.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the possession of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could parliament request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Maybe for the moment the institutional damage to the monarchy is limited. The message from the palace was clearly that the removal of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Altered Approach

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the brief communication showed evidently that the royals were siding with the accuser's account of incidents.

Furthermore, for the first time they finally showed concern for the victims: "These actions are considered essential, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and indolence that will undermine the monarchy. In his foolishness, personal excess and greed, Andrew appears never to have understood that lesson.