🔗 Share this article Folly and Royal Self-Entitlement Damaged Andrew, and It Might Persist Yet This episode commenced with a single photograph, possibly the most consequential ever taken of a member of the monarchy. Present was the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a young woman, while another individual grinned conspiratorially in the background. Lacking that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a young woman who declared she was moved across the sea and forced to have brief intimate contact with a individual of the royal family? An odd, telling gesture by someone who had overtly stated to have never known about her, asserted he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical funds to resolve a protracted court action. A Long Period of Disgrace Considering this, conversations of the monarchy acting firmly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This scandal has endured for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and another 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? Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his employees and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he unabashedly invited them to estates. Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds. Travel were listed in official documents: chopper travel from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "Airmiles Andy". A Life of Privilege Then there was the arrogance which demanded subservience when he walked into a space or the supreme awareness about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his friends. He could get away with it while his matriarch, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The monarch did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his disastrous and, it is now clear, untruthful television interview six years ago. Recent Developments Merely in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the release of books giving more disturbing particulars of his behavior and that of his associates. Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could avoid lying about his contact with a convicted criminal. People (and the press) were far in advance of the royal family. There was no one of any consequence to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption. Monarchical Concerns The more intelligent monarchical figures recognized that. The key objective is to pass on the institution, if not as before at least intact and untarnished. For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are useful, responsible and reactive to their subjects. His actions endangered all that in danger in an time when submission and secrecy is no longer adequate. Consequences Finally, the notoriously hesitant sovereign was prodded more. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the account. Now it is the stripping of designations and the continued and lifetime personal shame that will afflict Andrew the most. Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen Prior Instance: The first monarch to forfeit his titles in contemporary era Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his service in the engagement He is still a royal advisor, theoretically able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but none of these will ever come to pass. Future Prospects Do individuals he comes across still show respect to him? Will they still slip up and call him Prince? Might they say Mr, Certainly, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the sovereign's extensive grounds at a monarchical property. At that location, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of private allowance. It is not his previous residence, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed. Outstanding Concerns This is not over. There are still records in the custody of overseas authorities to be made public. Governmental Scrutiny: Will legislators demand more Monetary Probe: Or investigate the improper use of taxpayer funds Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct Perhaps for the present the harm to the monarchy to the institution is limited. The narrative from the palace was clearly that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and especially other senior royals, desired. A Shift in Position An end to deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the short communication showed clearly that the royals were aligning with the accuser's narrative of occurrences. Additionally, for the first time they finally showed concern for the survivors: "The censures are deemed necessary, regardless of the reality that he persists in refuting the claims against him." In the end it is presumption, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the institution. In his folly, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that lesson.