🔗 Share this article Foolishness and Regal Arrogance Damaged Andrew, and It Might Persist Yet It all began with a single photograph, possibly the most consequential ever snapped of a member of the monarchy. There stood the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while an associate beamed conspiratorially in the background. Lacking that image, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a adolescent who said she was moved across the ocean and obliged to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a individual of the royal family? A strange, indicative move by someone who had publicly claimed to have never been aware of her, said he could never have had intimate contact with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of family resources to avert a drawn-out court action. Years of Disgrace Against this backdrop, discussions of the monarchy acting decisively to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This scandal has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and another photo of Andrew strolling congenially with a convicted sex offender emerged. Arrogance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled? Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his staff and the law enforcement were doing their jobs, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he openly hosted them to palaces. Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds. Travel were documented in public records: chopper transfers from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for lunch, chartered planes instead of commercial flights, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy". World of Deference Additionally the arrogance which demanded respect when he walked into a room or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his correspondence in communication to his associates. He could get away with it while his mother, who unaccountably indulged him, was still alive. The Queen did at least revoke him of public duties and military positions in the wake of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, mendacious public statement six years ago. Recent Developments It was only in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more troubling details of his conduct and that of his associates. More information have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could escape lying about his contact with a disgraced individual. People (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royal family. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of presumption. Institutional Fears The more astute royals realized that. The primary concern is to transfer the crown, if not as before at least intact and unstained. For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the image of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are beneficial, dutiful and attentive to their people. His actions endangered all that in danger in an age when submission and discretion is no longer enough. Consequences Finally, the well-known hesitant monarch was pressured more. There was no alternative. The palace had lost control of the narrative. Now it is the removal of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply. Downgrading: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor Past Example: The initial member to surrender his titles in contemporary era Naval Career: Particularly painful given his duty in the Falklands war He remains a counsellor of state, in principle able to stand in for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the crown, but none of these will truly happen. Coming Developments Can persons he encounters still acknowledge him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Might they say Sir, Naturally, he is not retiring to an ordinary town, but to the royal family's large property at Sandringham. In that place, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some sort of financial support. It is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed. Pending Matters This is not over. There are still records in the hands of US Congress to be disclosed. Governmental Scrutiny: Could lawmakers seek further action Financial Investigation: Or examine the misuse of state resources Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions Maybe for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is limited. The narrative from the royal household was evidently that the revocation of honorifics was what the sovereign, and notably other senior monarchical figures, wanted. Altered Approach The cessation of deception that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the short statement showed plainly that the institution were aligning with the complainant's account of occurrences. Furthermore, for the first time they ultimately showed consideration for the survivors: "These actions are considered essential, regardless of the reality that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him." Ultimately it is arrogance, self-interest and inactivity that will undermine the monarchy. In his stupidity, self-gratification and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have learned that lesson.