Folly and Royal Self-Entitlement Damaged Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet

The saga started with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

There stood the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while another individual beamed suggestively in the backdrop.

Absent that photograph, shot at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a adolescent who declared she was transported across the sea and forced to have cursory intimate contact with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, revealing action by someone who had publicly asserted to have not been aware of her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of monarchical money to resolve a long-delayed legal case.

Years of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, talk of the monarchy acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and another snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, possibly even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his aides and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly welcomed them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with public money.

Trips were documented in official documents: private aircraft transfers from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which expected deference when he entered a area or the extreme awareness about his royal titles used on his correspondence in letters to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who strangely spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least remove him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his disastrous and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the release of books giving more troubling particulars of his actions and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with deceiving about his relationship with a disgraced individual.

Society (and the media) were far ahead of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any significance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of hubris.

Royal Worries

The wiser monarchical figures understood that. The one imperative is to hand down the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least whole and unstained.

For generations the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, responsible and attentive to their subjects.

He was placing all that in danger in an age when deference and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Finally, the famously indecisive king was pressured more. There was little choice. The palace had relinquished authority of the account.

Now it is the loss of titles and the persistent and permanent public humiliation that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The first member to surrender his designations in contemporary era
• Naval Career: Particularly painful given his service in the engagement

He remains a royal advisor, theoretically able to act for the king, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but none of these will actually happen.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he meets still show respect to him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew,

Naturally, he is not moving to a common area, but to the royal family's extensive estate at Sandringham.

There, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some sort of private allowance.

This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the possession of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Will parliament request additional information
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the waste of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct

Perhaps for the time being the reputational impact to the monarchy is contained. The message from the institution was plainly that the revocation of honorifics was what the sovereign, and especially other senior monarchical figures, sought.

A Shift in Position

The cessation of deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the short communication showed evidently that the monarchy were supporting the complainant's narrative of incidents.

Additionally, for the first time they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, regardless of the fact that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

In the end it is presumption, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the crown. In his folly, personal excess and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.