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

This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, arguably the most significant ever taken of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Duke of York, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual beamed conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that image, captured at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who said she was transported across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory relations with a member of the royal bloodline?

A curious, revealing action by someone who had publicly claimed to have never been aware of her, asserted he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of his mother's money to settle a protracted lawsuit.

Years of Controversy

Considering this, talk of the royals acting decisively to cut Andrew off are misguided. This scandal has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further image of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his siblings, possibly even his parents, realize that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his staff and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable friends given he openly hosted them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources.

Journeys were printed in public records: chopper transfers from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the entitlement which expected subservience when he walked into a space or the extreme awareness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who strangely spoiled him, was still alive. The monarch did at least remove him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the consequence of his disastrous and, it is now clear, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of books giving more disturbing particulars of his conduct and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could escape being untruthful about his contact with a notorious figure.

The public (and the press) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was nobody of any significance to defend him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The wiser family members realized that. The key objective is to pass on the institution, if not as before at least whole and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of earlier rulers, showing they are beneficial, responsible and attentive to their citizens.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an era when deference and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Finally, the notoriously indecisive king was pushed more. There was no other option. The palace had surrendered command of the story.

Now it is the loss of designations and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The first member to lose his designations in recent history
• Armed Forces: Notably painful given his duty in the Falklands war

He is still a counsellor of state, theoretically able to substitute for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly occur.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he encounters still acknowledge him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Might they say Mr,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the monarchy's large property at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of private allowance.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might legislators seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the misuse of state resources
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the monarchy is contained. The narrative from the royal household was evidently that the stripping of titles was what the monarch, and especially other senior royals, wanted.

Changed Stance

No more illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed plainly that the royals were siding with the complainant's account of events.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they eventually showed consideration for the survivors: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and indolence that will kill the crown. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew seems never to have learned that truth.