🔗 Share this article Foolishness and Royal Self-Entitlement Ruined Andrew, and It Might Persist Yet The saga started with a isolated photograph, arguably the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member. Present was the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a young woman, while a companion beamed conspiratorially in the background. Without that image, captured at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who declared she was trafficked across the ocean and obliged to have perfunctory relations with a prince of the monarchy? An odd, revealing gesture by someone who had overtly asserted to have not been aware of her, said he could never have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's resources to avert a long-delayed legal case. A Long Period of Controversy Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This controversy has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and a further image of Andrew ambling amiably with a convicted sex offender came to light. Self-importance: For what duration did his family members, perhaps even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled? Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he unabashedly welcomed them to estates. Financial Extravagance: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with state resources. Travel were documented in official documents: chopper travel from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast". A Life of Privilege Furthermore the presumption which expected deference when he appeared in a area or the supreme obsession about his honorifics used on his correspondence in letters to his friends. He could get away with it while his matriarch, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his disastrous and, it is now clear, untruthful public statement six years ago. Current Situation Just in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the release of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his actions and that of his associates. Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could get away with being untruthful about his interaction with a disgraced individual. People (and the press) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was no one of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of hubris. Royal Worries The wiser family members realized that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as previously at least whole and unblemished. For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of earlier rulers, proving they are useful, dutiful and reactive to their subjects. Andrew was putting all that in danger in an age when respect and secrecy is no longer adequate. Consequences Ultimately, the well-known indecisive monarch was prodded additional. There was no alternative. The institution had surrendered command of the narrative. Presently the loss of honorifics and the continued and life-long personal shame that will pain Andrew most severely. Reduction: Lowered to just a private citizen Past Example: The primary monarch to forfeit his honorifics in recent history Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his duty in the conflict He is still a counsellor of state, on paper able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but neither of these will actually happen. Coming Developments Will people he comes across still defer to him? Will they still slip up and call him Your Highness? Might they say Mr, Certainly, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the sovereign's vast property at a royal residence. In that place, he will be furnished by the sovereign with one of the estate properties 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 Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough. Outstanding Concerns This is not over. There are still files in the possession of American legislators to be made public. Governmental Scrutiny: Will legislators demand more Monetary Probe: Or examine the improper use of taxpayer funds Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct Maybe for the present the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The statement from the palace was plainly that the revocation of designations was what the sovereign, and notably other senior family members, wanted. A Shift in Position An end to deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the brief statement showed evidently that the royals were aligning with the complainant's account of events. Even more, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the survivors: "These actions are considered essential, despite the truth that he continues to deny the allegations against him." Finally it is entitlement, self-seeking and indolence that will undermine the institution. In his foolishness, personal excess and greed, Andrew appears never to have grasped that truth.