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

This episode commenced with a single photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever snapped of a individual from the royal household.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while an associate beamed knowingly in the background.

Absent that snapshot, taken at a party in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the claims of a teenager who stated she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A strange, revealing action by someone who had openly claimed to have no heard of her, said he could no have had sex with her, and yet handed over millions of monarchical money to resolve a long-delayed legal case.

Years of Controversy

Against this backdrop, conversations of the monarchy acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has continued for the better part of 15 years since that image, and another photo of Andrew strolling amiably with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his relatives, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he publicly invited them to palaces.
• Monetary Excess: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in royal annual reports: private aircraft transfers from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the presumption which required deference when he walked into a room or the extreme obsession about his designations used on his correspondence in communication to his friends.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who inexplicably pampered him, was still alive. The monarch did at least remove him of official roles and military positions in the consequence of his catastrophic and, as revealed, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the publication of books giving more troubling information of his behavior and that of his associates.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could escape lying about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the media) were far in advance of the monarchy. There was not a single person of any importance to support him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser family members understood that. The one imperative is to transfer the crown, if not as heretofore at least complete and unblemished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and attentive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in peril in an era when submission and secrecy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously indecisive king was prodded more. There was no alternative. The institution had relinquished authority of the narrative.

Presently the loss of honorifics and the continued and lifetime public humiliation that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Demotion: Reduced to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The first royal to forfeit his honorifics in recent history
• Naval Career: Especially stinging given his service in the engagement

He continues to be a royal advisor, theoretically able to act for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but not any of these will truly occur.

What Lies Ahead

Will people he encounters still defer to him? Will they still slip up and call him Prince? Might they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the royal family's large estate at Sandringham.

In that place, 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 token rent for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still records in the possession of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Political Pressure: Will legislators demand more
• Monetary Probe: Or investigate the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Possibly for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The message from the royal household was plainly that the stripping of titles was what the king, and especially other senior family members, sought.

Altered Approach

An end to deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, remarkably, the brief statement showed clearly that the institution were siding with the victim's account of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed concern for the affected individuals: "The censures are deemed necessary, despite the fact that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, selfishness and laziness that will kill the crown. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that reality.