Folly and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It Might Persist Yet

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

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a female youth, while an associate smiled knowingly in the background.

Absent that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a teenager who stated she was transported across the sea and obliged to have brief relations with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, revealing move by someone who had overtly asserted to have never known about her, said he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over millions of family money to resolve a protracted legal case.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Considering this, talk of the monarchy acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This controversy has continued for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and a further snapshot of Andrew ambling amiably with a notorious individual came to light.

• Self-importance: For what duration did his siblings, perhaps even his relatives, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his employees and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he openly welcomed them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Journeys were documented in official documents: private aircraft travel from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Furthermore the entitlement which demanded deference when he appeared in a room or the profound awareness about his royal titles used on his correspondence in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his mother, who inexplicably indulged him, was still alive. The monarch did at least strip him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his disastrous and, we now know, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the release of accounts giving more grim information of his behavior and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his relationship with a notorious figure.

The public (and the media) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent monarchical figures recognized that. The primary concern is to pass on the crown, if not as previously at least whole and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of previous monarchs, proving they are beneficial, accountable and attentive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in peril in an time when respect and privacy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Ultimately, the notoriously uncertain monarch was pressured additional. There was no alternative. The palace had relinquished authority of the account.

Currently the loss of designations and the ongoing and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The initial monarch to surrender his honorifics in recent history
• Naval Career: Notably hurtful given his duty in the Falklands war

He is still a counsellor of state, on paper able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but none of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Can persons he meets still show respect to him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Would they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not moving to a common area, but to the royal family's vast grounds at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some type of private allowance.

This is not his former home, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could legislators seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Possibly for the present the reputational impact to the monarchy is restricted. The narrative from the palace was plainly that the stripping of honorifics was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Altered Approach

An end to deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the brief announcement showed clearly that the monarchy were siding with the victim's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they finally showed concern for the survivors: "The censures are considered essential, despite the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-interest and laziness that will undermine the crown. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.