Stupidity and Royal Self-Entitlement Damaged Andrew, and It Might Persist Yet

This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, arguably the most consequential ever snapped of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, with his arm around a young woman, while an associate beamed knowingly in the backdrop.

Without that photograph, captured at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a young woman who declared she was moved across the Atlantic and obliged to have brief relations with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A curious, telling action by someone who had publicly claimed to have not known about her, said he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided millions of his mother's money to resolve a protracted legal case.

Over a Decade of Scandal

Against this backdrop, discussions of the royals acting decisively to cut Andrew off are misguided. This affair has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that photograph, and an additional photo of Andrew walking pleasantly with a convicted sex offender emerged.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, maybe even his parents, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his employees and the law enforcement were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he openly hosted them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Travel were listed in public records: chopper travel from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Then there was the arrogance which required subservience when he appeared in a room or the supreme awareness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who unaccountably pampered him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least revoke him of public duties and military positions in the consequence of his catastrophic and, we now know, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of biographical works giving more disturbing information of his behavior and that of his connections.

More information have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his interaction with a notorious figure.

Society (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was nobody of any importance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The wiser royals recognized that. The primary concern is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least whole and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, proving they are valuable, responsible and responsive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an age when deference and privacy is no longer enough.

Consequences

Ultimately, the famously hesitant monarch was pushed additional. There was little choice. The royal household had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the ongoing and life-long social disgrace that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The primary royal to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Especially stinging given his duty in the engagement

He is still a counsellor of state, theoretically able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but none of these will actually occur.

Coming Developments

Will people he comes across still show respect to him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Would they say Sir,

Naturally, he is not moving to a common area, but to the monarchy's extensive property at a royal residence.

At that location, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some sort of financial support.

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

Outstanding Concerns

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

• Parliamentary Interest: Might parliament seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the improper use of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Maybe for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the institution is restricted. The statement from the royal household was clearly that the stripping of titles was what the king, and particularly other senior royals, sought.

A Shift in Position

An end to illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the concise communication showed evidently that the royals were siding with the accuser's account of incidents.

Even more, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed consideration for the affected individuals: "These actions are deemed necessary, regardless of the fact that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

In the end it is presumption, self-interest and inactivity that will undermine the institution. In his foolishness, personal excess and venality, Andrew appears never to have understood that lesson.