Stupidity and Regal Arrogance Sunk Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet

The saga started with a isolated photograph, arguably the most consequential ever snapped of a royal family member.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while an associate smiled suggestively in the backdrop.

Without that photograph, shot at a party in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a teenager who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and obliged to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a individual of the royal family?

An odd, indicative action by someone who had overtly asserted to have no heard of her, claimed he could no have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid millions of monarchical resources to avert a protracted court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Considering this, talk of the royal family acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are inaccurate. This controversy has continued for the majority of 15 years since that image, and an additional image of Andrew strolling congenially with a disgraced financier surfaced.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, maybe even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his staff and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he publicly invited them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Travel were documented in official documents: chopper travel from the palace to a country club and back again in time for dining, private flights instead of commercial flights, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

Existence of Entitlement

Furthermore the arrogance which demanded subservience when he appeared in a space or the profound consciousness about his designations used on his official documents in letters to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who inexplicably pampered him, was still surviving. The Queen did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the wake of his disastrous and, it is now clear, untruthful public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the release of accounts giving more grim particulars of his behavior and that of his associates.

More information have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could avoid deceiving about his contact with a notorious figure.

Society (and the press) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to support him, a outcome of all those years of presumption.

Institutional Fears

The wiser monarchical figures realized that. The one imperative is to hand down the crown, if not as heretofore at least complete and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are valuable, responsible and attentive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in jeopardy in an age when submission and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Eventually, the famously hesitant monarch was pressured further. There was little choice. The palace had surrendered command of the account.

Presently the loss of titles and the persistent and permanent social disgrace that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The initial royal to forfeit his titles in contemporary era
• Military Service: Especially stinging given his role in the Falklands war

He is still a royal advisor, in principle able to act for the monarch, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but not any of these will ever occur.

Future Prospects

Will people he meets still defer to him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Might they say Sir,

Certainly, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's extensive estate at a royal residence.

There, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the estate properties and given some sort of private allowance.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a minimal payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still documents in the hands of overseas authorities to be made public.

• Parliamentary Interest: Could lawmakers demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the misuse of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his behavior

Possibly for the time being the reputational impact to the institution is restricted. The narrative from the palace was clearly that the removal of titles was what the monarch, and notably other senior royals, desired.

A Shift in Position

No more deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the concise statement showed evidently that the institution were siding with the accuser's version of incidents.

Even more, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the survivors: "The censures are judged required, regardless of the fact that he continues to deny the claims against him."

In the end it is entitlement, self-interest and laziness that will destroy the crown. In his folly, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew seems never to have understood that reality.