Folly and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It Might Persist Yet

The saga started with a solitary photograph, arguably the most significant ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual grinned knowingly in the background.

Without that photograph, captured at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a adolescent who stated she was moved across the sea and obliged to have brief intimate contact with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A curious, telling move by someone who had publicly asserted to have no heard of her, claimed he could never have had sex with her, and yet paid millions of family funds to settle a drawn-out lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Scandal

In this context, talk of the royals acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and a further image of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his staff and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable companions given he publicly welcomed them to royal residences.
• 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 official documents: helicopter travel from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the arrogance which demanded deference when he walked into a space or the extreme awareness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in messages to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his disastrous and, as revealed, untruthful public statement 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 behavior and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could get away with deceiving about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the press) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The wiser family members recognized that. The primary concern is to transfer the crown, if not as previously at least whole and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the image of previous monarchs, proving they are useful, dutiful and attentive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an era when submission and secrecy is no longer enough.

Aftermath

Eventually, the famously uncertain monarch was pushed more. There was no other option. The institution had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Presently the stripping of designations and the continued and life-long personal shame that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Past Example: The initial member to lose his honorifics in recent history
• Military Service: Especially painful given his duty in the conflict

He continues to be a constitutional officer, on paper able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but neither of these will actually occur.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he meets still acknowledge him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Will they even say Sir,

Of course, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's extensive grounds at Sandringham.

In that place, he will be supplied by the king with one of the estate properties and given some type of personal stipend.

It is not his previous residence, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Might parliament request additional information
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the improper use of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Possibly for the present the harm to the monarchy to the institution is contained. The narrative from the royal household was evidently that the removal of titles was what the sovereign, and especially other senior family members, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the brief statement showed clearly that the royals were siding with the complainant's narrative of occurrences.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed concern for the victims: "These actions are deemed necessary, despite the reality that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, selfishness and laziness that will undermine the crown. In his folly, personal excess and corruption, Andrew appears never to have grasped that lesson.