🔗 Share this article Stupidity and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet It all began with a solitary photograph, arguably the most consequential ever snapped of a royal family member. There stood the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a teenage girl, while another individual smiled knowingly in the backdrop. Without that photograph, shot at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who said she was transported across the Atlantic and obliged to have cursory relations with a individual of the royal bloodline? A strange, telling gesture by someone who had publicly claimed to have never been aware of her, asserted he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a large amount of monarchical resources to settle a protracted court action. Over a Decade of Disgrace Considering this, conversations of the royal family acting firmly to cut Andrew off are misguided. This affair has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and another image of Andrew ambling amiably with a disgraced financier came to light. Hubris: To what extent did his siblings, possibly even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous? Problematic Connections: They must have realized, if his employees and the authorities were performing their duties, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he publicly hosted them to palaces. Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds. Journeys were listed in public records: helicopter transfers from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer". World of Deference Then there was the presumption which required respect when he walked into a space or the profound obsession about his designations used on his official documents in messages to his associates. He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the wake of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, deceptive television interview six years ago. Latest Events Merely in the last 14 days that events accelerated, following the issuance of accounts giving more disturbing information of his actions and that of his connections. More information have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his contact with a disgraced individual. The public (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was no one of any consequence to defend him, a result of all those years of arrogance. Monarchical Concerns The wiser family members understood that. The one imperative is to pass on the crown, if not as before at least whole and unstained. Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are useful, dutiful and reactive to their subjects. Andrew was putting all that in peril in an era when deference and discretion is no longer sufficient. Aftermath Ultimately, the well-known hesitant sovereign was prodded further. There was no alternative. The institution had lost control of the account. Currently the stripping of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime social disgrace that will pain Andrew the most. Demotion: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor Prior Instance: The first member to forfeit his designations in modern times Armed Forces: Especially stinging given his duty in the engagement He remains a constitutional officer, in principle able to stand in for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but none of these will truly come to pass. What Lies Ahead Will people he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still slip up and call him Sir? Will they even say Sir, Certainly, he is not moving to a common area, but to the monarchy's extensive property at Sandringham. There, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some type of private allowance. It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a nominal payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed. Pending Matters The situation continues. There are still records in the custody of overseas authorities to be made public. Governmental Scrutiny: Might parliament seek further action Monetary Probe: Or investigate the waste of public money Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct Possibly for the present the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The message from the institution was evidently that the revocation of titles was what the monarch, and notably other senior family members, sought. A Shift in Position An end to pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the short statement showed evidently that the royals were aligning with the victim's version of events. Even more, for the first time they ultimately showed regard for the victims: "These actions are considered essential, regardless of the reality that he persists in refuting the accusations against him." In the end it is presumption, self-interest and inactivity that will undermine the crown. In his foolishness, self-gratification and venality, Andrew appears never to have learned that reality.