Stupidity and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It Might Persist Yet

This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever snapped of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, arm-in-arm a young woman, while an associate beamed conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that image, shot at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the claims of a adolescent who stated she was transported across the sea and obliged to have brief relations with a individual of the royal bloodline?

An odd, telling gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have not heard of her, asserted he could never have had sex with her, and yet provided millions of monarchical money to settle a long-delayed legal case.

A Long Period of Scandal

In this context, talk of the monarchy acting decisively to cut Andrew off are misguided. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that image, and another snapshot of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Hubris: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his aides and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he publicly invited them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Journeys were printed in official documents: chopper travel from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the entitlement which demanded subservience when he walked into a room or the extreme obsession about his royal titles used on his official documents in letters to his associates.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who unaccountably pampered him, was still living. The Queen did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the publication of biographical works giving more grim details of his behavior and that of his connections.

More information have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could get away with deceiving about his relationship with a notorious figure.

Society (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was nobody of any consequence to defend him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The wiser family members understood that. The primary concern is to pass on the monarchy, if not as previously at least intact and unstained.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and attentive to their citizens.

His actions endangered all that in peril in an era when submission and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Eventually, the well-known uncertain king was pressured more. There was little choice. The royal household had lost control of the account.

Presently the removal of designations and the persistent and life-long public humiliation that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The first royal to lose his honorifics in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly stinging given his service in the Falklands war

He is still a constitutional officer, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but none of these will ever happen.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he encounters still defer to him? Might they still slip up and call him Prince? Will they even say Mr,

Of course, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's large grounds at Sandringham.

There, he will be provided by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of personal stipend.

It is not his previous residence, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Will legislators request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Perhaps for the moment the institutional damage to the crown is restricted. The message from the palace was plainly that the stripping of designations was what the monarch, and notably other senior royals, sought.

Altered Approach

The cessation of deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the brief communication showed plainly that the institution were siding with the accuser's narrative of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "The censures are judged required, despite the reality that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Finally it is presumption, self-seeking and indolence that will undermine the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-gratification and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that lesson.