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The saga started with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most significant ever captured of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a young woman, while an associate beamed knowingly in the backdrop.

Without that photograph, taken at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who said she was trafficked across the ocean and obliged to have brief intimate contact with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A curious, indicative action by someone who had openly stated to have not been aware of her, claimed he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid millions of monarchical resources to resolve a drawn-out legal case.

Years of Scandal

Against this backdrop, discussions of the monarchy acting decisively to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This controversy has endured for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional image of Andrew walking amiably with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Hubris: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable friends given he publicly welcomed them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Travel were printed in royal annual reports: helicopter travel from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Then there was the entitlement which demanded deference when he appeared in a room or the extreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in messages to his friends.

He could get away with it while his parent, who strangely indulged him, was still alive. The Queen did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his disastrous and, we now know, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the release of accounts giving more troubling details of his actions and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

People (and the media) were far ahead of the royal family. There was nobody of any consequence to speak up for him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser family members realized that. The one imperative is to transfer the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are valuable, dutiful and responsive to their people.

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

The Fallout

Finally, the well-known indecisive monarch was pressured more. There was little choice. The palace had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Currently the loss of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The initial monarch to surrender his titles in contemporary era
• Military Service: Especially painful given his role in the Falklands war

He continues to be a constitutional officer, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but not any of these will actually occur.

What Lies Ahead

Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Sir? Will they even say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not moving to a common area, but to the monarchy's extensive grounds at a royal residence.

There, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of private allowance.

It is not his previous residence, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, 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 disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might lawmakers seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the waste of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Maybe for the time being the reputational impact to the institution is contained. The message from the palace was clearly that the removal of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise announcement showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the accuser's narrative of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they ultimately showed consideration for the affected individuals: "These actions are deemed necessary, regardless of the reality that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will kill the crown. In his foolishness, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that reality.