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It all began with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever captured of a royal family member.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the rear.

Lacking that photograph, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the claims of a adolescent who said she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have perfunctory relations with a member of the royal family?

A curious, indicative action by someone who had overtly stated to have never been aware of her, asserted he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a large amount of family money to resolve a long-delayed legal case.

A Long Period of Controversy

Against this backdrop, talk of the royal family acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further photo of Andrew strolling amiably with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Hubris: How long did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable companions given he publicly hosted them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Trips were listed in public records: chopper flights from the palace to a country club and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

World of Deference

Additionally the entitlement which demanded respect when he walked into a area or the profound obsession about his honorifics used on his official documents in letters to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still living. The monarch did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the consequence of his ill-fated and, we now know, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of books giving more troubling information of his actions and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could avoid deceiving about his contact with a notorious figure.

The public (and the press) were far in advance of the royal family. There was nobody of any significance to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more astute family members understood that. The one imperative is to hand down the monarchy, if not as before at least whole and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are valuable, accountable and reactive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an era when submission and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Finally, the notoriously uncertain monarch was prodded further. There was no alternative. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the continued and permanent public humiliation that will afflict Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Notably stinging given his role in the Falklands war

He is still a counsellor of state, theoretically able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but none of these will actually happen.

Future Prospects

Will people he meets still defer to him? Will they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Might they say Sir,

Naturally, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's extensive grounds at Sandringham.

There, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some sort of personal stipend.

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

Outstanding Concerns

This is not over. There are still documents in the hands of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the waste of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Possibly for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is limited. The message from the institution was plainly that the stripping of titles was what the king, and notably other senior royals, desired.

A Shift in Position

An end to pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the concise communication showed clearly that the royals were aligning with the complainant's narrative of occurrences.

Additionally, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the victims: "The measures are considered essential, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

Finally it is presumption, selfishness and laziness that will destroy the institution. In his folly, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that reality.