Folly and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet

This episode commenced with a single photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever captured of a individual from the royal household.

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a female youth, while another individual smiled knowingly in the backdrop.

Absent that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a young woman who stated she was transported across the Atlantic and obliged to have cursory intimate contact with a individual of the royal family?

A strange, revealing move by someone who had publicly stated to have never been aware of her, claimed he could no have had relations with her, and yet handed over millions of family money to settle a long-delayed legal case.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Considering this, talk of the royals acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has endured for the majority of 15 years since that image, and a further photo of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual emerged.

• Hubris: How long did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his parents, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his employees and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable associates given he unabashedly welcomed them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Journeys were documented in royal annual reports: private aircraft flights from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Additionally the arrogance which expected subservience when he walked into a room or the profound awareness about his designations used on his letterheads in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, as revealed, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the issuance of biographical works giving more disturbing particulars of his behavior and that of his companions.

More information have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could escape being untruthful about his relationship with a notorious figure.

The public (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser monarchical figures recognized that. The primary concern is to hand down the crown, 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, accountable and reactive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in peril in an time when respect and privacy is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Eventually, the famously uncertain king was pressured more. There was no alternative. The royal household had lost control of the account.

Presently the stripping of designations and the ongoing and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The primary member to forfeit his titles in recent history
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his service in the engagement

He is still a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but neither of these will ever come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he encounters still defer to him? Will they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Might they say Sir,

Of course, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the sovereign's extensive property at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be furnished by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

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

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still records in the hands of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might lawmakers request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the improper use of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Possibly for the time being the reputational impact to the monarchy is restricted. The message from the royal household was plainly that the revocation of designations was what the monarch, and notably other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the short announcement showed clearly that the royals were siding with the victim's version of events.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed concern for the victims: "These actions are considered essential, regardless of the fact that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

In the end it is arrogance, selfishness and indolence that will undermine the monarchy. In his folly, self-gratification and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that reality.