Foolishness and Royal Self-Entitlement Ruined Andrew, and It May Not Be Over Yet

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

Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Lacking that snapshot, taken at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a adolescent who declared she was transported across the sea and obliged to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a member of the royal bloodline?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had publicly asserted to have no known about her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet provided millions of monarchical funds to avert a protracted lawsuit.

Years of Scandal

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting decisively to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This affair has endured for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further photo of Andrew walking pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his parents, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his staff and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he openly invited them to estates.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in official documents: private aircraft travel from the palace to a country club and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which demanded respect when he appeared in a space or the supreme obsession about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who unaccountably indulged him, was still alive. The monarch did at least strip him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, we now know, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of biographical works giving more troubling details of his behavior and that of his associates.

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

Society (and the press) were far in advance of the royals. There was no one of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The wiser family members understood that. The primary concern is to pass on the monarchy, if not as previously at least whole and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are beneficial, dutiful and reactive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an time when respect and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

The Fallout

Ultimately, the famously indecisive monarch was prodded additional. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the narrative.

Currently the loss of titles and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Reduced to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The first monarch to lose his designations in modern times
• Military Service: Particularly painful given his duty in the Falklands war

He is still a counsellor of state, theoretically able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but neither of these will ever happen.

What Lies Ahead

Can persons he comes across still defer to him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Mr,

Naturally, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the sovereign's extensive property at Sandringham.

There, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of personal stipend.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the custody of American legislators to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could legislators seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the waste of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the monarchy is contained. The message from the royal household was plainly that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, desired.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the short announcement showed evidently that the monarchy were aligning with the complainant's narrative of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed consideration for the victims: "The measures are judged required, regardless of the fact that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-interest and inactivity that will destroy the crown. In his foolishness, personal excess and venality, Andrew appears never to have learned that reality.