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

The saga started with a single photograph, arguably the most consequential ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, arm-in-arm a female youth, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the rear.

Without that image, captured at a party in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a young woman who declared she was moved across the ocean and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A strange, revealing move by someone who had openly stated to have never been aware of her, claimed he could no have had sex with her, and yet handed over a large amount of family resources to resolve a long-delayed legal case.

A Long Period of Controversy

In this context, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further image of Andrew ambling congenially with a disgraced financier emerged.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his aides and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he openly hosted them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in public records: helicopter flights from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the entitlement which demanded subservience when he walked into a room or the profound consciousness about his royal titles used on his correspondence in letters to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his mother, who strangely indulged him, was still living. The Queen did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last fortnight that events sped up, following the issuance of accounts giving more grim information of his behavior and that of his companions.

More information have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid being untruthful about his contact with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the journalists) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to support him, a outcome of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute family members understood that. The key objective is to pass on the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least complete and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of earlier rulers, showing they are useful, dutiful and responsive to their citizens.

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

Consequences

Ultimately, the famously hesitant sovereign was pressured more. There was no alternative. The palace had lost control of the account.

Now it is the loss of honorifics and the continued and lifetime social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most severely.

• Reduction: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The initial royal to forfeit his honorifics in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Notably hurtful given his service in the conflict

He continues to be a royal advisor, in principle able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but neither of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

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

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's extensive property at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be supplied by the king with one of the estate properties and given some form of personal stipend.

It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Pending Matters

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Could lawmakers seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the waste of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Perhaps for the moment the reputational impact to the monarchy is restricted. The message from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of designations was what the monarch, and particularly other senior family members, wanted.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the brief communication showed evidently that the institution were aligning with the victim's narrative of events.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they finally showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The measures are judged required, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-seeking and inactivity that will destroy the crown. In his folly, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that truth.