🔗 Share this article Foolishness and Royal Self-Entitlement Ruined Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet The saga started with a solitary photograph, arguably the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member. In the frame appeared the Duke of York, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion smiled conspiratorially in the rear. Lacking that image, captured at a social event in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a young woman who declared she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have brief sexual encounters with a member of the royal family? An odd, telling move by someone who had publicly claimed to have never been aware of her, said he could not have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of monarchical resources to settle a long-delayed legal case. Over a Decade of Scandal Considering this, discussions of the royals acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew are inaccurate. This scandal has endured for the majority of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a notorious individual surfaced. Self-importance: How long did his siblings, possibly even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so self-entitled? Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he openly hosted them to royal residences. Financial Extravagance: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources. Journeys were printed in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy". A Life of Privilege Furthermore the entitlement which demanded respect when he walked into a area or the profound consciousness about his designations used on his correspondence in communication to his personal acquaintances. He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely pampered him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least revoke him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious media appearance six years ago. Latest Events Just in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the release of books giving more grim particulars of his conduct and that of his connections. Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could get away with being untruthful about his contact with a notorious figure. People (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was not a single person of any significance to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance. Monarchical Concerns The more intelligent family members recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as previously at least intact and untarnished. Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the image of previous monarchs, proving they are valuable, accountable and attentive to their subjects. He was placing all that in peril in an era when respect and secrecy is no longer sufficient. The Fallout Finally, the famously hesitant monarch was pushed additional. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the narrative. Now it is the removal of honorifics and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply. Demotion: Lowered to just a private citizen Historical Precedent: The primary monarch to forfeit his designations in modern times Military Service: Especially painful given his role in the Falklands war He is still a royal advisor, on paper able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will ever come to pass. Future Prospects Will people he encounters still show respect to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Will they even say Andrew, Naturally, he is not moving to a common area, but to the sovereign's vast estate at a royal residence. At that location, he will be supplied by the king with one of the estate properties and given some sort of personal stipend. This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough. Outstanding Concerns Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the custody of US Congress to be made public. Parliamentary Interest: Might parliament demand more Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the waste of taxpayer funds Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct Maybe for the time being the institutional damage to the crown is restricted. The narrative from the royal household was evidently that the revocation of honorifics was what the monarch, and especially other senior royals, sought. Changed Stance No more deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the brief statement showed plainly that the institution were aligning with the complainant's account of incidents. Even more, for the initial instance they finally showed concern for the victims: "The measures are judged required, notwithstanding the truth that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him." Ultimately it is arrogance, selfishness and indolence that will kill the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew appears never to have learned that truth.