🔗 Share this article Foolishness and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet The saga started with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most significant ever captured of a member of the monarchy. There stood the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a young woman, while an associate beamed knowingly in the backdrop. Without that photograph, taken at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a adolescent who stated she was transported across the ocean and forced to have brief sexual encounters with a member of the royal family? An odd, indicative gesture by someone who had openly asserted to have never heard of her, claimed he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of his mother's funds to resolve a protracted lawsuit. Years of Scandal Considering this, discussions of the royal family acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has continued for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional snapshot of Andrew walking congenially with a notorious individual emerged. Hubris: For what duration did his siblings, maybe even his relatives, know that Andrew was so arrogant? Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his aides and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he openly hosted them to estates. Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money. Journeys were listed in public records: chopper transfers from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast". World of Deference Additionally the entitlement which required deference when he entered a area or the supreme obsession about his honorifics used on his letterheads in letters to his friends. He could get away with it while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least remove him of official roles and military positions in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful television interview six years ago. Latest Events It was only in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the issuance of accounts giving more disturbing particulars of his actions and that of his connections. Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could get away with being untruthful about his contact with a disgraced individual. The public (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royals. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of presumption. Monarchical Concerns The more astute family members recognized that. The primary concern is to pass on the monarchy, if not as previously at least intact and unstained. For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are valuable, accountable and responsive to their subjects. He was placing all that in danger in an time when deference and secrecy is no longer enough. The Fallout Eventually, the well-known indecisive king was pressured further. There was no other option. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative. Currently the removal of designations and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will pain Andrew the most. Reduction: Reduced to just a commoner Past Example: The primary member to surrender his titles in recent history Naval Career: Especially stinging given his service in the conflict He remains a constitutional officer, theoretically able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but neither of these will actually occur. Future Prospects Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Will they even say Mr, Naturally, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large grounds at a monarchical property. In that place, he will be supplied by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend. It is not his former home, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed. Unresolved Issues This is not over. There are still files in the custody of American legislators to be disclosed. Political Pressure: Will legislators seek further action Monetary Probe: Or investigate the improper use of state resources Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct Possibly for the moment the institutional damage to the crown is limited. The narrative from the palace was evidently that the revocation of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior royals, desired. Changed Stance The cessation of illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the brief statement showed clearly that the royals were supporting the victim's narrative of events. Additionally, for the first time they eventually showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are deemed necessary, despite the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him." Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and inactivity that will destroy the monarchy. In his folly, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew appears never to have grasped that truth.