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

This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, arguably the most significant ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a female youth, while an associate grinned suggestively in the backdrop.

Without that snapshot, taken at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a adolescent who said she was transported across the Atlantic and forced to have cursory relations with a individual of the monarchy?

A strange, indicative gesture by someone who had publicly claimed to have never known about her, said he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of monarchical resources to resolve a long-delayed court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This scandal has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that image, and a further image of Andrew walking amiably with a notorious individual emerged.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, perhaps even his relatives, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable companions given he openly invited them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with state resources.

Travel were printed in official documents: helicopter transfers from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

World of Deference

Then there was the entitlement which demanded respect when he entered a area or the profound awareness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who unaccountably pampered him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least remove him of official roles and military positions in the consequence of his catastrophic and, we now know, deceptive television interview six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of accounts giving more disturbing information of his conduct and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was not a single person of any importance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The more intelligent family members recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of previous monarchs, proving they are valuable, responsible and responsive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an age when respect and discretion is no longer enough.

Consequences

Ultimately, the well-known hesitant monarch was pushed further. There was no other option. The institution had lost control of the account.

Currently the stripping of honorifics and the ongoing and lifetime personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The first monarch to lose his designations in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Particularly painful given his service in the Falklands war

He remains a constitutional officer, on paper able to stand in for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the throne, but none of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Will people he meets still show respect to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Will they even say Mr,

Of course, he is not moving to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's large grounds at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the royal residences and given some sort of financial support.

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

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still documents in the custody of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might legislators seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the waste of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Possibly for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The narrative from the royal household was clearly that the revocation of titles was what the king, and notably other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

Altered Approach

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the short statement showed evidently that the royals were supporting the victim's narrative of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The censures are judged required, regardless of the reality that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

In the end it is entitlement, self-seeking and laziness that will kill the crown. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew appears never to have grasped that reality.