Foolishness and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It May Not Be Over Yet

The saga started with a isolated photograph, perhaps the most significant ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Duke of York, standing closely beside a young woman, while an associate grinned suggestively in the backdrop.

Lacking that snapshot, shot at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who said she was transported across the Atlantic and forced to have brief sexual encounters with a member of the royal family?

A strange, indicative action by someone who had publicly stated to have no known about her, said he could never have had relations with her, and yet paid a large amount of his mother's money to settle a protracted legal case.

A Long Period of Disgrace

Considering this, conversations of the royals acting firmly to distance themselves from Andrew 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 pleasantly with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Self-importance: How long did his siblings, maybe even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his aides and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he unabashedly welcomed them to estates.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his extravagance with taxpayer funds.

Trips were documented in royal annual reports: chopper travel from the estate to a golf course and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the presumption which expected respect when he walked into a space or the extreme awareness about his designations used on his correspondence in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who strangely spoiled him, was still living. The Queen did at least remove him of official roles and ceremonial ranks in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, we now know, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Latest Events

Merely in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more grim details of his conduct and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could avoid lying about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

Society (and the journalists) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Monarchical Concerns

The more astute monarchical figures realized that. The primary concern is to transfer the monarchy, if not as before at least complete and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of earlier rulers, proving they are useful, responsible and reactive to their people.

He was placing all that in danger in an age when submission and discretion is no longer adequate.

The Fallout

Eventually, the notoriously uncertain sovereign was pushed additional. There was little choice. The palace had surrendered command of the narrative.

Now it is the removal of designations and the persistent and life-long public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The primary member to surrender his designations in contemporary era
• Military Service: Particularly stinging given his service in the conflict

He continues to be a counsellor of state, on paper able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but none of these will truly occur.

Coming Developments

Will people he comes across still acknowledge him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Prince? Would they say Mr,

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

There, he will be furnished by the king with one of the royal residences and given some form of financial support.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit far, but even so it may not be far enough.

Unresolved Issues

Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the hands of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could parliament demand more
• Fiscal Review: Or examine the improper use of state resources
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Perhaps for the moment the institutional damage to the institution is restricted. The narrative from the palace was clearly that the stripping of designations was what the sovereign, and notably other senior monarchical figures, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to pretence that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, notably, the concise statement showed evidently that the institution were supporting the victim's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the first time they ultimately showed regard for the survivors: "The measures are deemed necessary, despite the truth that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, selfishness and indolence that will destroy the monarchy. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and greed, Andrew seems never to have learned that truth.