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

This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, arguably the most consequential ever taken of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, arm-in-arm a teenage girl, while another individual smiled knowingly in the backdrop.

Lacking that image, shot at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a young woman who declared she was transported across the Atlantic and obliged to have brief relations with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A curious, telling move by someone who had overtly stated to have not been aware of her, said he could no have had relations with her, and yet provided a large amount of his mother's money to settle a long-delayed lawsuit.

A Long Period of Scandal

In this context, discussions of the royal family acting decisively to cut Andrew off are wide of the mark. This controversy has persisted for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and another image of Andrew ambling congenially with a notorious individual emerged.

• Arrogance: How long did his siblings, perhaps even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his staff and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he publicly welcomed them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Trips were documented in official documents: private aircraft flights from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the presumption which required respect when he appeared in a space or the profound obsession about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who strangely pampered him, was still living. The Queen did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Recent Developments

It was only in the last two weeks that events sped up, following the publication of accounts giving more troubling details of his actions and that of his companions.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could avoid lying about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was nobody of any consequence to support him, a result of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The wiser monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to transfer the crown, if not as previously at least complete and untarnished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the image of previous monarchs, proving they are useful, responsible and reactive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an age when submission and privacy is no longer adequate.

Aftermath

Eventually, the notoriously hesitant king was pressured further. There was no alternative. The palace had lost control of the story.

Now it is the stripping of titles and the continued and permanent public humiliation that will afflict Andrew most deeply.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The first member to lose his honorifics in modern times
• Armed Forces: Notably painful given his role in the Falklands war

He remains a counsellor of state, on paper able to act for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but not any of these will truly come to pass.

Coming Developments

Can persons he comes across still acknowledge him? Will they still slip up and call him Prince? Would they say Mr,

Naturally, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the sovereign's extensive property at a royal residence.

There, he will be provided by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some form of personal stipend.

This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a minimal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough.

Pending Matters

This is not over. There are still documents in the hands of American legislators to be revealed.

• Political Pressure: Will parliament seek further action
• Fiscal Review: Or investigate the improper use of taxpayer funds
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Possibly for the moment the institutional damage to the institution is restricted. The message from the royal household was plainly that the stripping of designations was what the monarch, and especially other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the concise statement showed clearly that the monarchy were supporting the complainant's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the premiere occasion they finally showed concern for the affected individuals: "The censures are judged required, despite the fact that he continues to deny the claims against him."

Ultimately it is presumption, self-interest and inactivity that will destroy the institution. In his folly, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew appears never to have grasped that lesson.