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It all began with a isolated photograph, possibly the most significant ever snapped of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a young woman, while a companion beamed suggestively in the background.

Lacking that image, shot at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who said she was trafficked across the ocean and compelled to have perfunctory intimate contact with a individual of the monarchy?

A strange, telling action by someone who had publicly asserted to have not heard of her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of family money to avert a long-delayed legal case.

A Long Period of Controversy

Against this backdrop, talk of the royals acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This scandal has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that image, and another snapshot of Andrew strolling amiably with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his parents, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he unabashedly hosted them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were documented in public records: private aircraft transfers from the estate to a country club and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which expected deference when he walked into a room or the supreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in messages to his associates.

He could get away with it while his mother, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The Queen did at least strip him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the consequence of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling details of his behavior and that of his companions.

More information have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

People (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was not a single person of any significance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser family members understood that. The key objective is to pass on the institution, if not as heretofore at least intact and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, proving they are useful, dutiful and responsive to their subjects.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an time when deference and discretion is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the notoriously uncertain monarch was pressured further. There was no other option. The institution had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Presently the removal of honorifics and the continued and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The primary royal to lose his honorifics in modern times
• Armed Forces: Notably painful given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a constitutional officer, in principle able to act for the king, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but not any of these will truly come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he meets still show respect to him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Will they even say Sir,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the sovereign's vast estate at a royal residence.

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

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Could legislators demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Possibly for the moment the institutional damage to the institution is limited. The statement from the palace was plainly that the revocation of designations was what the king, and especially other senior royals, sought.

Altered Approach

No more pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the short announcement showed plainly that the institution were aligning with the accuser's narrative of occurrences.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed concern for the victims: "The censures are considered essential, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, self-seeking and indolence that will kill the crown. In his stupidity, personal excess and corruption, Andrew appears never to have understood that lesson.