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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

Present was the Duke of York, with his arm around a young woman, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the background.

Absent that photograph, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who stated she was moved across the sea and forced to have brief sexual encounters with a prince of the monarchy?

A curious, telling action by someone who had openly asserted to have not known about her, claimed he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over millions of family resources to settle a drawn-out court action.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, conversations of the monarchy acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This affair has endured for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and another image of Andrew strolling amiably with a notorious individual emerged.

• Self-importance: How long did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he openly hosted them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Journeys were listed in public records: chopper transfers from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the presumption which required deference when he entered a space or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who unaccountably indulged him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least remove him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his disastrous and, it is now clear, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the issuance of accounts giving more troubling particulars of his behavior and that of his companions.

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

The public (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any significance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent royals understood that. The one imperative is to pass on the monarchy, if not as before at least complete and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are valuable, responsible and attentive to their people.

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

The Fallout

Ultimately, the famously hesitant king was pushed more. There was no alternative. The institution had relinquished authority of the story.

Now it is the stripping of honorifics and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a commoner
• Past Example: The first royal to lose his titles in recent history
• Naval Career: Especially stinging given his service in the conflict

He is still a royal advisor, in principle able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but not any of these will ever come to pass.

Coming Developments

Can persons he meets still acknowledge him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Sir,

Of course, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's large estate at a royal residence.

In that place, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some type of personal stipend.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still records in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could parliament demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the improper use of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Possibly for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is restricted. The message from the royal household was plainly that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and notably other senior monarchical figures, desired.

A Shift in Position

No more illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the brief announcement showed clearly that the royals were supporting the complainant's version of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed consideration for the survivors: "The measures are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

In the end it is presumption, self-interest and indolence that will kill the crown. In his foolishness, personal excess and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that lesson.