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It all began with a solitary photograph, arguably the most consequential ever snapped of a member of the monarchy.

Present was the Duke of York, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while an associate beamed suggestively in the rear.

Without that image, shot at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a adolescent who declared she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a individual of the royal family?

A strange, revealing move by someone who had openly claimed to have never known about her, asserted he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided millions of family money to avert a drawn-out legal case.

Years of Controversy

Considering this, discussions of the royals acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This affair has continued for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional image of Andrew walking amiably with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his family members, perhaps even his parents, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his aides and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he unabashedly hosted them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Journeys were documented in official documents: private aircraft transfers from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the entitlement which demanded deference when he entered a area or the extreme obsession about his honorifics used on his letterheads in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The sovereign did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his disastrous and, it is now clear, untruthful television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of books giving more grim information of his actions and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could avoid lying about his contact with a convicted criminal.

People (and the journalists) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The more astute monarchical figures understood that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as previously at least whole and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of earlier rulers, proving they are beneficial, dutiful and reactive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an age when respect and discretion is no longer sufficient.

The Fallout

Finally, the well-known uncertain king was pushed further. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the story.

Now it is the removal of designations and the persistent and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The initial royal to forfeit his titles in modern times
• Armed Forces: Particularly stinging given his service in the engagement

He remains a royal advisor, on paper able to substitute for the king, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but not any of these will actually happen.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Prince? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's extensive property at a monarchical property.

There, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some sort of private allowance.

It is not 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.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the possession of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might parliament request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the waste of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Perhaps for the present the harm to the monarchy to the institution is restricted. The statement from the palace was plainly that the removal of honorifics was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

An end to illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the short communication showed evidently that the royals were aligning with the complainant's account of occurrences.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they finally showed consideration for the survivors: "The censures are judged required, notwithstanding the truth that he continues to deny the claims against him."

In the end it is arrogance, selfishness and laziness that will kill the monarchy. In his folly, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew seems never to have understood that reality.