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

There stood the Duke of York, with his arm around a female youth, while another individual smiled suggestively in the backdrop.

Lacking that image, shot at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who said she was moved across the ocean and forced to have brief sexual encounters with a member of the royal bloodline?

An odd, indicative move by someone who had overtly claimed to have never known about her, claimed he could not have had relations with her, and yet handed over a large amount of family resources to resolve a drawn-out legal case.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Considering this, discussions of the royal family acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This scandal has endured for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional photo of Andrew walking amiably with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his siblings, perhaps even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his aides and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he openly welcomed them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Trips were printed in official documents: chopper travel from the estate to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the arrogance which expected deference when he appeared in a room or the extreme consciousness about his designations used on his correspondence in messages to his friends.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least remove him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling information of his behavior and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could escape lying about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

People (and the media) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any consequence to defend him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent monarchical figures realized that. The key objective is to transfer the crown, if not as before at least complete and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the image of previous monarchs, proving they are beneficial, responsible and responsive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an time when submission and privacy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the notoriously uncertain sovereign was prodded more. There was no alternative. The palace had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Now it is the removal of honorifics and the persistent and life-long personal shame that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The primary royal to surrender his titles in modern times
• Armed Forces: Particularly stinging given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a counsellor of state, theoretically able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but neither of these will truly come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Might they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large property at a monarchical property.

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

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

Pending Matters

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

• Political Pressure: Could legislators demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the misuse of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions

Maybe for the time being the institutional damage to the monarchy is limited. The narrative from the palace was evidently that the stripping of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the concise statement showed evidently that the institution were aligning with the complainant's account of events.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed consideration for the affected individuals: "These actions are deemed necessary, regardless of the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and inactivity that will kill the crown. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.