🔗 Share this article Folly and Regal Arrogance Damaged Andrew, and It Might Persist Yet The saga started with a single photograph, perhaps the most significant ever captured of a royal family member. In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while another individual beamed conspiratorially in the backdrop. Lacking that photograph, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a young woman who stated she was moved across the sea and forced to have brief sexual encounters with a prince of the royal bloodline? An odd, indicative action by someone who had openly stated to have not heard of her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet paid millions of his mother's resources to avert a drawn-out court action. Years of Disgrace In this context, discussions of the royal family acting swiftly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the largest portion of 15 years since that picture, and a further snapshot of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a notorious individual surfaced. Self-importance: How long did his siblings, maybe even his parents, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous? Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his aides and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he openly hosted them to estates. Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money. Trips were documented in royal annual reports: helicopter transfers from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy". Existence of Entitlement Then there was the arrogance which required subservience when he walked into a room or the profound awareness about his designations used on his correspondence in communication to his friends. He could get away with it while his mother, who inexplicably indulged him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least strip him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, we now know, mendacious media appearance six years ago. Recent Developments Merely in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of books giving more troubling information of his actions and that of his associates. Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could avoid being untruthful about his relationship with a convicted criminal. The public (and the journalists) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of presumption. Royal Worries The more astute monarchical figures recognized that. The primary concern is to hand down the monarchy, if not as before at least whole and untarnished. For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, accountable and responsive to their citizens. He was placing all that in peril in an age when respect and discretion is no longer sufficient. Aftermath Eventually, the notoriously indecisive monarch was pushed additional. There was little choice. The royal household had surrendered command of the story. Now it is the removal of designations and the ongoing and life-long social disgrace that will pain Andrew most severely. Demotion: Demoted to just a private citizen Historical Precedent: The initial member to forfeit his honorifics in contemporary era Naval Career: Particularly hurtful given his duty in the engagement He remains a constitutional officer, in principle able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but none of these will actually come to pass. What Lies Ahead Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Would they say Mr, Naturally, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the royal family's extensive property at a monarchical property. In that place, he will be provided by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of financial support. This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed. Pending Matters The situation continues. There are still records in the custody of overseas authorities to be disclosed. Governmental Scrutiny: Will legislators seek further action Fiscal Review: Or examine the improper use of taxpayer funds Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the crown is limited. The message from the institution was evidently that the stripping of honorifics was what the king, and notably other senior family members, wanted. A Shift in Position No more deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise communication showed clearly that the monarchy were siding with the accuser's version of occurrences. Even more, for the premiere occasion they finally showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The censures are judged required, regardless of the fact that he continues to deny the claims against him." Ultimately it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will kill the institution. In his folly, self-gratification and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that lesson.