🔗 Share this article Foolishness and Royal Self-Entitlement Ruined Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet The saga started with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever taken of a member of the monarchy. In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while an associate beamed knowingly in the background. Without that image, taken at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a adolescent who stated she was moved across the ocean and obliged to have brief intimate contact with a individual of the royal family? A strange, telling action by someone who had publicly claimed to have no been aware of her, asserted he could no have had sex with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of monarchical money to avert a protracted legal case. A Long Period of Scandal Against this backdrop, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This affair has endured for the better part of 15 years since that image, and an additional image of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light. Arrogance: For what duration did his siblings, possibly even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous? Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his employees and the police were performing their duties, that he had some highly questionable companions given he openly welcomed them to estates. Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money. Trips were listed in official documents: helicopter travel from the estate to a country club and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast". Existence of Entitlement Additionally the entitlement which required respect when he entered a space or the supreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his official documents in letters to his associates. He avoided accountability while his mother, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still alive. The monarch did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the wake of his disastrous and, as revealed, deceptive television interview six years ago. Latest Events It was only in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the issuance of books giving more disturbing information of his conduct and that of his companions. Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could escape deceiving about his relationship with a convicted criminal. The public (and the press) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any consequence to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance. Monarchical Concerns The more astute monarchical figures realized that. The primary concern is to pass on the monarchy, if not as previously at least whole and untarnished. Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are valuable, dutiful and reactive to their subjects. Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an era when respect and privacy is no longer adequate. Aftermath Eventually, the notoriously uncertain king was prodded additional. There was little choice. The royal household had relinquished authority of the account. Presently the removal of honorifics and the persistent and life-long personal shame that will hurt Andrew most severely. Demotion: Lowered to just a commoner Prior Instance: The initial royal to surrender his designations in modern times Military Service: Especially hurtful given his role in the conflict He continues to be a counsellor of state, theoretically able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the crown, but not any of these will actually come to pass. Coming Developments Can persons he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew, Of course, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the royal family's vast estate at Sandringham. At that location, he will be furnished by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of financial support. It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit remote, but even so it may not be adequate distance. Outstanding Concerns This is not over. There are still documents in the custody of US Congress to be made public. Governmental Scrutiny: Could legislators demand more Fiscal Review: Or scrutinize the improper use of taxpayer funds Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct Maybe for the time being the reputational impact to the monarchy is contained. The message from the royal household was plainly that the revocation of honorifics was what the monarch, and particularly other senior royals, wanted. Changed Stance No more pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the concise statement showed plainly that the institution were siding with the accuser's narrative of occurrences. Furthermore, for the initial instance they eventually showed concern for the victims: "The censures are judged required, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him." Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and inactivity that will kill the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew appears never to have grasped that reality.