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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, possibly the most significant ever captured of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual grinned knowingly in the background.

Absent that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a adolescent who said she was trafficked across the ocean and compelled to have cursory relations with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A curious, indicative action by someone who had openly stated to have not known about her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a large amount of family money to resolve a drawn-out lawsuit.

A Long Period of Controversy

In this context, conversations of the royals acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling amiably with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his siblings, perhaps even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he openly invited them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in royal annual reports: helicopter travel from the estate to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the presumption which required deference when he appeared in a room or the profound obsession about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who strangely pampered him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least remove him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the release of accounts giving more disturbing particulars of his conduct and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could get away with deceiving about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the media) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was nobody of any importance to support him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent family members realized that. The key objective is to pass on the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of previous monarchs, proving they are valuable, responsible and responsive to their people.

He was placing all that in danger in an age when deference and privacy is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Ultimately, the well-known hesitant sovereign was pressured more. There was little choice. The palace had relinquished authority of the account.

Presently the loss of designations and the persistent and lifetime personal shame that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The primary royal to surrender his titles in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly hurtful given his service in the Falklands war

He remains a constitutional officer, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but none of these will ever come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Could they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Might they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the sovereign's extensive estate at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of financial support.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Pending Matters

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

• Political Pressure: Might parliament demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the improper use of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Maybe for the present the institutional damage to the crown is limited. The message from the institution was evidently that the removal of titles was what the monarch, and notably other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

No more deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the brief announcement showed clearly that the royals were aligning with the accuser's version of events.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, regardless of the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, self-seeking and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew appears never to have grasped that truth.