🔗 Share this article Folly and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet It all began with a single photograph, arguably the most consequential ever snapped of a individual from the royal household. There stood the Duke of York, with his arm around a teenage girl, while another individual smiled conspiratorially in the backdrop. Absent that snapshot, captured at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a teenager who stated she was moved across the Atlantic and forced to have cursory intimate contact with a member of the royal family? A strange, indicative action by someone who had publicly stated to have never known about her, asserted he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over a large amount of monarchical resources to resolve a drawn-out lawsuit. Over a Decade of Scandal In this context, talk of the royals acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This affair has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and a further image of Andrew strolling congenially with a disgraced financier emerged. Hubris: How long did his siblings, perhaps even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous? Questionable Associations: They must have known, if his employees and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he openly invited them to palaces. Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources. Trips were printed in public records: helicopter travel from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer". A Life of Privilege Then there was the arrogance which expected respect when he entered a area or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his associates. He could get away with it while his parent, who unaccountably indulged him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, we now know, untruthful public statement six years ago. Latest Events Just in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the publication of books giving more grim particulars of his conduct and that of his connections. Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could escape being untruthful about his interaction with a convicted criminal. Society (and the media) were far ahead of the royal family. There was nobody of any significance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of presumption. Monarchical Concerns The wiser monarchical figures recognized that. The key objective is to hand down the crown, if not as previously at least complete and untarnished. Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of past sovereigns, showing they are beneficial, dutiful and reactive to their citizens. His actions endangered all that in danger in an time when submission and privacy is no longer adequate. Consequences Finally, the well-known uncertain monarch was prodded additional. There was no alternative. The palace had surrendered command of the narrative. Currently the stripping of titles and the continued and life-long public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply. Reduction: Demoted to just a commoner Past Example: The first member to lose his honorifics in modern times Armed Forces: Notably hurtful given his service in the conflict He is still a royal advisor, theoretically able to act for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but not any of these will ever occur. Future Prospects Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Will they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Mr, Certainly, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the royal family's vast estate at a royal residence. There, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some type of private allowance. This is not his former home, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed. Outstanding Concerns The situation continues. There are still files in the hands of American legislators to be revealed. Governmental Scrutiny: Will legislators seek further action Monetary Probe: Or investigate the misuse of public money Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior Possibly for the time being the institutional damage to the crown is restricted. The message from the royal household was evidently that the removal of titles was what the king, and notably other senior family members, wanted. Altered Approach No more pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the short communication showed evidently that the royals were aligning with the complainant's account of incidents. Even more, for the first time they finally showed concern for the survivors: "These actions are judged required, notwithstanding the reality that he persists in refuting the allegations against him." In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and indolence that will undermine the monarchy. In his folly, self-gratification and venality, Andrew appears never to have learned that reality.