Folly and Regal Arrogance Ruined Andrew, and It May Not Be Over Yet

The saga started with a isolated photograph, possibly the most consequential ever captured of a individual from the royal household.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual grinned conspiratorially in the rear.

Absent that image, shot at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a young woman who stated she was trafficked across the sea and compelled to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a prince of the royal family?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had openly asserted to have never known about her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of monarchical money to avert a protracted lawsuit.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Considering this, conversations of the monarchy acting decisively to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This scandal has endured for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and a further photo of Andrew strolling amiably with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Self-importance: How long did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his aides and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he publicly welcomed them to estates.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources.

Journeys were printed in public records: private aircraft travel from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

Existence of Entitlement

Additionally the arrogance which required subservience when he appeared in a room or the extreme awareness about his honorifics used on his official documents in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least strip him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the consequence of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, mendacious media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the issuance of accounts giving more disturbing particulars of his conduct and that of his associates.

More information have again revealed Andrew's belief that he could avoid being untruthful about his contact with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the journalists) were far in advance of the royal family. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent monarchical figures realized that. The one imperative is to transfer 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, demonstrating they are useful, responsible and attentive to their subjects.

Andrew was putting all that in peril in an age when deference and discretion is no longer sufficient.

The Fallout

Ultimately, the notoriously hesitant king was pressured further. There was little choice. The institution had lost control of the account.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the continued and permanent public humiliation that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Demotion: Demoted to just a commoner
• Historical Precedent: The initial monarch to surrender his honorifics in contemporary era
• Armed Forces: Especially hurtful given his service in the conflict

He continues to be a counsellor of state, in principle able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly occur.

Coming Developments

Will people he meets still defer to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Would they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the royal family's vast grounds at a monarchical property.

In that place, he will be furnished by the king with one of the estate properties and given some sort of financial support.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the possession of American legislators to be disclosed.

• Political Pressure: Will parliament seek further action
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Perhaps for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is contained. The message from the palace was plainly that the stripping of designations was what the sovereign, and notably other senior family members, desired.

Changed Stance

No more deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the concise communication showed evidently that the monarchy were supporting the accuser's version of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed concern for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, regardless of the reality that he persists in refuting the accusations against him."

Finally it is presumption, selfishness and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his foolishness, personal excess and corruption, Andrew appears never to have understood that truth.