🔗 Share this article Stupidity and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet It all began with a isolated photograph, arguably the most significant ever taken of a individual from the royal household. Present was the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while a companion smiled knowingly in the background. Without that snapshot, shot at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a teenager who said she was transported across the sea and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a prince of the royal bloodline? A curious, telling action by someone who had openly stated to have no heard of her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of his mother's resources to settle a protracted legal case. Over a Decade of Scandal Against this backdrop, talk of the royals acting swiftly to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This controversy has endured for the better part of 15 years since that image, and a further image of Andrew walking pleasantly with a disgraced financier surfaced. Arrogance: How long did his brothers and sisters, maybe even his parents, know that Andrew was so presumptuous? Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his employees and the law enforcement were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable companions given he openly invited them to palaces. Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money. Trips were printed in official documents: private aircraft flights from the estate to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast". Existence of Entitlement Then there was the presumption which required deference when he entered a area or the extreme obsession about his honorifics used on his letterheads in communication to his friends. He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who inexplicably pampered him, was still living. The sovereign did at least strip him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful television interview six years ago. Latest Events It was only in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the issuance of books giving more disturbing particulars of his conduct and that of his connections. Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could escape lying about his contact with a disgraced individual. People (and the media) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any consequence to support him, a consequence of all those years of hubris. Monarchical Concerns The wiser royals understood that. The one imperative is to pass on the monarchy, if not as previously at least whole and unblemished. They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the image of previous monarchs, showing they are valuable, accountable and reactive to their citizens. Andrew was putting all that in danger in an era when respect and discretion is no longer enough. Consequences Finally, the notoriously indecisive monarch was prodded further. There was no other option. The institution had relinquished authority of the account. Now it is the removal of titles and the ongoing and permanent social disgrace that will pain Andrew most severely. Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor Historical Precedent: The primary member to surrender his titles in contemporary era Military Service: Particularly hurtful given his service in the Falklands war He continues to be a constitutional officer, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but not any of these will actually come to pass. Future Prospects Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Andrew, Naturally, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the sovereign's extensive grounds at Sandringham. There, he will be supplied by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of private allowance. This is not his previous residence, where he paid a token lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough. Outstanding Concerns The situation continues. There are still records in the hands of overseas authorities to be made public. Parliamentary Interest: Might legislators demand more Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the waste of public money Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior Perhaps for the moment the institutional damage to the monarchy is limited. The statement from the palace was plainly that the revocation of honorifics was what the monarch, and notably other senior family members, sought. A Shift in Position The cessation of deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the concise communication showed plainly that the monarchy were supporting the accuser's narrative of occurrences. Furthermore, for the initial instance they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the reality that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him." Finally it is presumption, self-seeking and inactivity that will destroy the institution. In his foolishness, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew appears never to have grasped that truth.