Stupidity and Regal Arrogance Sunk Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet

It all began with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion beamed conspiratorially in the background.

Lacking that photograph, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a young woman who declared she was moved across the sea and obliged to have cursory sexual encounters with a individual of the monarchy?

A strange, revealing action by someone who had openly asserted to have not been aware of her, claimed he could not have had relations with her, and yet provided millions of monarchical funds to resolve a drawn-out court action.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royal family acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This controversy has continued for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and a further image of Andrew walking congenially with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Self-importance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his relatives, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he unabashedly hosted them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were listed in public records: helicopter transfers from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which required subservience when he appeared in a area or the supreme obsession about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his associates.

He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who inexplicably indulged him, was still alive. The monarch did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the aftermath of his ill-fated and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Latest Events

It was only in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more grim details of his behavior and that of his companions.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the press) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was no one of any importance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute royals realized that. The key objective is to transfer the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least whole and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the legacy of past sovereigns, showing they are useful, dutiful and responsive to their subjects.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an era when respect and discretion is no longer sufficient.

Consequences

Finally, the famously hesitant sovereign was pressured more. There was no alternative. The palace had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Currently the loss of honorifics and the continued and lifetime personal shame that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The first royal to surrender his designations in recent history
• Armed Forces: Notably painful given his role in the Falklands war

He remains a counsellor of state, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly occur.

Future Prospects

Will people he encounters still acknowledge him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Might they say Mr,

Of course, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the sovereign's extensive property at Sandringham.

There, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of personal stipend.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might lawmakers demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his actions

Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the institution is limited. The narrative from the institution was clearly that the removal of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, desired.

Changed Stance

The cessation of deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the brief communication showed clearly that the monarchy were siding with the accuser's version of occurrences.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed regard for the victims: "The censures are deemed necessary, regardless of the truth that he maintains his innocence of the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, selfishness and laziness that will destroy the monarchy. In his foolishness, personal excess and corruption, Andrew appears never to have understood that reality.