Foolishness and Monarchical Hubris Damaged Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet

The saga started with a solitary photograph, arguably the most significant ever captured of a royal family member.

Present was the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a young woman, while another individual grinned conspiratorially in the rear.

Without that photograph, taken at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a adolescent who stated she was trafficked across the sea and obliged to have cursory relations with a member of the royal family?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had openly stated to have not known about her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over millions of family funds to settle a drawn-out legal case.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

Considering this, discussions of the royals acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This affair has endured for the better part of 15 years since that image, and a further image of Andrew strolling congenially with a notorious individual surfaced.

• Hubris: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his relatives, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable friends given he openly invited them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Trips were documented in royal annual reports: chopper flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the entitlement which required subservience when he walked into a area or the supreme obsession about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who strangely pampered him, was still alive. The monarch did at least revoke him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, as revealed, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of books giving more troubling details of his actions and that of his companions.

More information have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could avoid deceiving about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

People (and the media) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any importance to support him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals understood that. The primary concern is to transfer the crown, if not as heretofore at least intact and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are beneficial, responsible and attentive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an era when submission and secrecy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Eventually, the notoriously uncertain king was pushed additional. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the narrative.

Currently the removal of designations and the persistent and permanent social disgrace that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner
• Past Example: The initial member to forfeit his designations in modern times
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his duty in the engagement

He continues to be a royal advisor, in principle able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will actually occur.

Future Prospects

Will people he meets still defer to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Prince? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's large property at Sandringham.

At that location, he will be furnished by the king with one of the royal residences and given some form of personal stipend.

It is not his previous residence, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the possession of US Congress to be disclosed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might lawmakers demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the improper use of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior

Perhaps for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is restricted. The statement from the royal household was plainly that the removal of honorifics was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior family members, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed clearly that the monarchy were supporting the accuser's version of events.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "The censures are judged required, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-interest and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew seems never to have learned that truth.