🔗 Share this article Foolishness and Royal Self-Entitlement Damaged Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet This episode commenced with a single photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever snapped of a royal family member. There stood the Duke of York, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the rear. Without that snapshot, shot at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a young woman who said she was moved across the Atlantic and forced to have brief relations with a individual of the royal bloodline? A curious, revealing gesture by someone who had openly asserted to have no heard of her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of his mother's resources to avert a protracted court action. Years of Controversy In this context, discussions of the royals acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This controversy has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and another image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light. Self-importance: To what extent did his siblings, possibly even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so arrogant? Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his aides and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly welcomed them to royal residences. Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money. Journeys were listed in official documents: private aircraft flights from the estate to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer". Existence of Entitlement Furthermore the entitlement which demanded deference when he walked into a area or the profound awareness about his honorifics used on his official documents in messages to his associates. He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still living. The monarch did at least strip him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious public statement six years ago. Latest Events Merely in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the release of accounts giving more grim information of his conduct and that of his companions. More information have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could avoid deceiving about his interaction with a disgraced individual. The public (and the journalists) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to defend him, a result of all those years of hubris. Monarchical Concerns The more astute family members recognized that. The primary concern is to pass on the institution, if not as before at least whole and unblemished. Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of previous monarchs, proving they are valuable, accountable and reactive to their subjects. Andrew was putting all that in peril in an time when deference and secrecy is no longer adequate. The Fallout Ultimately, the famously hesitant sovereign was pushed further. There was no other option. The palace had lost control of the narrative. Currently the stripping of honorifics and the continued and permanent public humiliation that will afflict Andrew most deeply. Demotion: Reduced to just a private citizen Prior Instance: The initial royal to surrender his honorifics in recent history Military Service: Particularly stinging given his role in the engagement He is still a constitutional officer, theoretically able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but neither of these will ever occur. What Lies Ahead Do individuals he meets still show respect to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Would they say Sir, Of course, he is not withdrawing to suburbia, but to the royal family's vast grounds at a monarchical property. There, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of private allowance. This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed. Outstanding Concerns Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the custody of overseas authorities to be made public. Parliamentary Interest: Will lawmakers demand more Fiscal Review: Or investigate the waste of public money Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct Perhaps for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the institution is contained. The message from the royal household was plainly that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and notably other senior royals, sought. Altered Approach An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the brief announcement showed evidently that the royals were aligning with the victim's narrative of occurrences. Even more, for the first time they eventually showed concern for the survivors: "The measures are deemed necessary, regardless of the reality that he continues to deny the allegations against him." In the end it is presumption, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the crown. In his folly, personal excess and venality, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.