Stupidity and Royal Self-Entitlement Ruined Andrew, and It May Not Be Over Yet

It all began with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most significant ever taken of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Duke of York, with his arm around a young woman, while a companion grinned suggestively in the backdrop.

Absent that photograph, captured at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a teenager who stated she was transported across the sea and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A curious, telling move by someone who had publicly stated to have not been aware of her, asserted he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's money to settle a long-delayed court action.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Considering this, conversations of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This affair has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further image of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his family members, maybe even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he openly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Journeys were listed in public records: helicopter flights from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the entitlement which demanded subservience when he entered a room or the profound consciousness about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his friends.

He could get away with it while his mother, who inexplicably pampered him, was still living. The sovereign did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, as revealed, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Merely in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of books giving more disturbing details of his conduct and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again exposed Andrew's thinking that he could escape lying about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

People (and the press) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals realized that. The one imperative is to hand down the institution, if not as before at least intact and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of earlier rulers, proving they are useful, dutiful and reactive to their people.

He was placing all that in danger in an age when submission and privacy is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Finally, the well-known uncertain king was pressured more. There was no alternative. The royal household had lost control of the narrative.

Currently the stripping of designations and the continued and lifetime social disgrace that will pain Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The first royal to lose his honorifics in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Particularly hurtful given his role in the conflict

He remains a royal advisor, in principle able to act for the king, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but not any of these will truly come to pass.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he meets still defer to him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Might they say Sir,

Of course, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's extensive property at a royal residence.

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

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still files in the custody of US Congress to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Will legislators seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the improper use of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Possibly for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the crown is contained. The statement from the royal household was plainly that the removal of designations was what the king, and particularly other senior family members, desired.

A Shift in Position

An end to illusion that Andrew was acting willingly. And, significantly, the brief communication showed plainly that the monarchy were aligning with the complainant's account of incidents.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed regard for the victims: "The measures are deemed necessary, despite the truth that he continues to deny the claims against him."

In the end it is presumption, self-seeking and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his folly, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that lesson.