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The saga started with a solitary photograph, possibly the most significant ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while a companion beamed suggestively in the backdrop.

Without that photograph, taken at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a young woman who declared she was trafficked across the sea and forced to have cursory intimate contact with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A strange, revealing gesture by someone who had overtly stated to have no heard of her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical resources to avert a long-delayed court action.

Years of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, discussions of the monarchy acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew walking pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light.

• Arrogance: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his parents, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he openly invited them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Trips were listed in official documents: helicopter flights 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 "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Furthermore the entitlement which required subservience when he walked into a room or the profound consciousness about his royal titles used on his official documents in letters to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The Queen did at least revoke him of public duties and military positions in the consequence of his disastrous and, as revealed, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the release of biographical works giving more troubling particulars of his actions and that of his companions.

More information have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with being untruthful about his contact with a notorious figure.

The public (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was no one of any consequence to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more astute royals understood that. The key objective is to hand down the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least whole and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of previous monarchs, proving they are valuable, responsible and responsive to their subjects.

Andrew was putting all that in peril in an age when deference and secrecy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Ultimately, the well-known uncertain king was prodded further. There was little choice. The institution had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime social disgrace that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The initial monarch to surrender his designations in recent history
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a constitutional officer, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but none of these will ever happen.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he encounters still acknowledge him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Will they even say Mr,

Naturally, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large grounds at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be supplied by the king with one of the estate properties and given some form of personal stipend.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will lawmakers demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the waste of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Perhaps for the moment the reputational impact to the institution is limited. The narrative from the palace was evidently that the revocation of titles was what the king, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Altered Approach

An end to pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the brief statement showed plainly that the monarchy were aligning with the accuser's narrative of incidents.

Furthermore, for the first time they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "The censures are considered essential, despite the fact that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, selfishness and inactivity that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-gratification and greed, Andrew seems never to have understood that reality.