🔗 Share this article Folly and Royal Self-Entitlement Damaged Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet It all began with a single photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever taken of a individual from the royal household. Present was the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while a companion beamed suggestively in the background. Without that snapshot, captured at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a teenager who declared she was trafficked across the Atlantic and obliged to have brief sexual encounters with a prince of the royal family? A strange, indicative action by someone who had overtly asserted to have never been aware of her, asserted he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of family funds to resolve a drawn-out lawsuit. Over a Decade of Scandal In this context, conversations of the royals acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and a further image of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual came to light. Self-importance: To what extent did his siblings, maybe even his parents, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled? Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he unabashedly welcomed them to estates. Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds. Trips were listed in official documents: chopper transfers from the palace to a golf course and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer". Existence of Entitlement Then there was the arrogance which demanded respect when he entered a area or the supreme awareness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his associates. He avoided accountability while his mother, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least remove him of public duties and military positions in the consequence of his disastrous and, as revealed, deceptive public statement six years ago. Latest Events It was only in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of accounts giving more disturbing information of his conduct and that of his companions. Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could get away with deceiving about his relationship with a disgraced individual. The public (and the media) were far more perceptive of the monarchy. There was no one of any consequence to support him, a consequence of all those years of presumption. Monarchical Concerns The wiser royals realized that. The primary concern is to hand down the institution, if not as before at least intact and unstained. They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the image of earlier rulers, proving they are useful, dutiful and reactive to their citizens. His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an age when submission and privacy is no longer sufficient. Consequences Finally, the well-known indecisive monarch was pressured more. There was no alternative. The palace had relinquished authority of the account. Presently the loss of honorifics and the persistent and permanent personal shame that will afflict Andrew most severely. Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner Historical Precedent: The initial royal to surrender his honorifics in modern times Military Service: Especially stinging given his service in the engagement He is still a royal advisor, theoretically able to act for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but not any of these will truly occur. Coming Developments Do individuals he meets still acknowledge him? Might they still slip up and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew, Of course, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the sovereign's extensive grounds at Sandringham. At that location, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some sort of personal stipend. This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough. Pending Matters This is not over. There are still records in the hands of American legislators to be disclosed. Political Pressure: Could lawmakers demand more Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of public money Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct Perhaps for the present the reputational impact to the institution is restricted. The statement from the royal household was plainly that the stripping of designations was what the king, and especially other senior royals, desired. Changed Stance No more pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the brief statement showed evidently that the monarchy were siding with the accuser's narrative of occurrences. Furthermore, for the initial instance they ultimately showed consideration for the survivors: "The censures are deemed necessary, despite the reality that he persists in refuting the allegations against him." In the end it is entitlement, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the institution. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that lesson.