🔗 Share this article Stupidity and Regal Arrogance Sunk Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet It all began with a solitary photograph, possibly the most impactful ever taken of a individual from the royal household. There stood the Duke of York, with his arm around a teenage girl, while a companion beamed suggestively in the backdrop. Absent that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a young woman who declared she was moved across the Atlantic and compelled to have cursory relations with a prince of the royal bloodline? A strange, telling gesture by someone who had overtly stated to have not known about her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's funds to settle a long-delayed lawsuit. A Long Period of Scandal Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting firmly to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This affair has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and an additional snapshot of Andrew strolling amiably with a notorious individual surfaced. Hubris: How long did his siblings, maybe even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so self-entitled? Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his employees and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he unabashedly hosted them to palaces. Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds. Trips were listed in royal annual reports: private aircraft travel from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer". World of Deference Furthermore the presumption which demanded deference when he appeared in a room or the supreme awareness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his friends. He managed to escape consequences while his matriarch, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still alive. The sovereign did at least strip him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, mendacious media appearance six years ago. Current Situation It was only in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the release of accounts giving more grim particulars of his conduct and that of his companions. Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could get away with being untruthful about his relationship with a convicted criminal. People (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royal family. There was no one of any consequence to support him, a consequence of all those years of hubris. Royal Worries The wiser family members realized that. The primary concern is to hand down the institution, if not as heretofore at least whole and untarnished. They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are useful, dutiful and reactive to their subjects. His actions endangered all that in peril in an era when respect and privacy is no longer enough. Aftermath Finally, the well-known hesitant monarch was pressured further. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the story. Presently the stripping of titles and the persistent and permanent public humiliation that will afflict Andrew most severely. Downgrading: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor Historical Precedent: The primary royal to forfeit his designations in modern times Armed Forces: Notably painful given his duty 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 crown, but neither of these will actually occur. Future Prospects Will people he comes across still acknowledge him? Could they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Would they say Andrew, Certainly, he is not withdrawing to an ordinary town, but to the monarchy's extensive estate at a monarchical property. At that location, he will be supplied by the king with one of the royal residences and given some form of financial support. This is not his former home, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed. Unresolved Issues Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the possession of overseas authorities to be disclosed. Governmental Scrutiny: Will parliament request additional information Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the improper use of taxpayer funds Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his behavior Possibly for the moment the institutional damage to the monarchy is restricted. The message from the royal household was plainly that the removal of titles was what the king, and notably other senior monarchical figures, sought. Changed Stance An end to illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the short communication showed evidently that the institution were siding with the accuser's narrative of events. Even more, for the first time they eventually showed regard for the affected individuals: "The measures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him." Finally it is presumption, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the institution. In his stupidity, personal excess and greed, Andrew seems never to have learned that lesson.