🔗 Share this article Folly and Regal Arrogance Ruined Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet It all began with a single photograph, possibly the most significant ever captured of a member of the monarchy. Present was the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a female youth, while another individual grinned conspiratorially in the background. Lacking that image, captured at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a teenager who said she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have cursory sexual encounters with a individual of the monarchy? A curious, indicative gesture by someone who had overtly stated to have never heard of her, asserted he could not have had sex with her, and yet paid a substantial sum of monarchical resources to avert a drawn-out court action. Over a Decade of Scandal Against this backdrop, discussions of the monarchy acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that image, and a further snapshot of Andrew strolling congenially with a disgraced financier surfaced. Hubris: For what duration did his siblings, possibly even his parents, know that Andrew was so arrogant? Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his employees and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he unabashedly invited them to estates. Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money. Travel were printed in royal annual reports: chopper flights from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast". World of Deference Then there was the presumption which expected deference when he entered a area or the supreme obsession about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his friends. He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who unaccountably pampered him, was still living. The monarch did at least revoke him of public duties and ceremonial ranks in the wake of his ill-fated and, we now know, mendacious media appearance six years ago. Latest Events Merely in the last fortnight that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more troubling information of his actions and that of his associates. Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could escape being untruthful about his interaction with a disgraced individual. Society (and the press) were far in advance of the royal family. There was nobody of any importance to support him, a result of all those years of arrogance. Royal Worries The more astute royals recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as previously at least complete and unblemished. Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of past sovereigns, demonstrating they are beneficial, dutiful and responsive to their citizens. He was placing all that in jeopardy in an time when submission and discretion is no longer enough. The Fallout Eventually, the well-known hesitant king was pressured additional. There was no alternative. The palace had lost control of the story. Presently the loss of titles and the ongoing and life-long public humiliation that will afflict Andrew most deeply. Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor Prior Instance: The primary member to forfeit his titles in modern times Military Service: Notably painful given his duty in the Falklands war He is still a counsellor of state, on paper able to substitute for the king, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but not any of these will actually occur. Coming Developments Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Might they say Andrew, Of course, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the royal family's extensive estate at a monarchical property. In that place, he will be furnished by the king with one of the royal residences and given some type of private allowance. This is not his former home, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough. Outstanding Concerns The situation continues. There are still records in the possession of overseas authorities to be revealed. Governmental Scrutiny: Will lawmakers demand more Fiscal Review: Or examine the waste of public money Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions Maybe for the present the institutional damage to the monarchy is contained. The statement from the institution was plainly that the removal of honorifics was what the monarch, and especially other senior royals, sought. Altered Approach The cessation of illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the concise communication showed evidently that the institution were supporting the complainant's version of occurrences. Even more, for the initial instance they finally showed regard for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, despite the fact that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him." Ultimately it is entitlement, self-interest and indolence that will undermine the crown. In his folly, personal excess and greed, Andrew appears never to have learned that reality.