🔗 Share this article Stupidity and Regal Arrogance Damaged Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, possibly the most impactful ever taken of a member of the monarchy. There stood the Baron Killyleagh, standing closely beside a female youth, while a companion beamed suggestively in the rear. Lacking that snapshot, taken at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the allegations of a teenager who said she was trafficked across the ocean and compelled to have perfunctory relations with a individual of the royal bloodline? A strange, telling action by someone who had publicly stated to have no known about her, claimed he could never have had relations with her, and yet paid millions of his mother's resources to settle a long-delayed legal case. Over a Decade of Scandal Considering this, talk of the monarchy acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This scandal has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and a further image of Andrew walking congenially with a convicted sex offender surfaced. Arrogance: How long did his family members, maybe even his relatives, know that Andrew was so arrogant? Problematic Connections: They must have understood, if his staff and the police were fulfilling their roles, that he had some deeply disreputable friends given he publicly welcomed them to royal residences. Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds. Travel were documented in official documents: helicopter flights from the estate to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy". Existence of Entitlement Additionally the arrogance which required subservience when he entered a area or the extreme obsession about his honorifics used on his correspondence in messages to his friends. He avoided accountability while his parent, who strangely indulged him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least remove him of public duties and military positions in the consequence of his ill-fated and, it is now clear, untruthful television interview six years ago. Recent Developments Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of accounts giving more troubling details of his conduct and that of his companions. Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could get away with lying about his relationship with a convicted criminal. Society (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was no one of any significance to support him, a outcome of all those years of hubris. Institutional Fears The more intelligent family members realized that. The primary concern is to hand down the monarchy, if not as previously at least whole and unblemished. For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the image of previous monarchs, demonstrating they are valuable, dutiful and attentive to their subjects. He was placing all that in jeopardy in an era when deference and secrecy is no longer enough. Consequences Finally, the well-known uncertain monarch was pushed additional. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the narrative. Currently the removal of designations and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply. Downgrading: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor Prior Instance: The initial monarch to surrender his honorifics in contemporary era Armed Forces: Notably painful given his role in the conflict He remains a constitutional officer, in principle able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still eighth in line to the monarchy, but none of these will truly come to pass. Future Prospects Can persons he meets still acknowledge him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Sir? Might they say Sir, Of course, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the sovereign's vast estate at a monarchical property. In that place, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of private allowance. This is not his former home, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed. Outstanding Concerns Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the hands of American legislators to be disclosed. Political Pressure: Will legislators demand more Monetary Probe: Or investigate the misuse of state resources Criminal Investigation: There may even be a police investigation into his actions Possibly for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The statement from the institution was clearly that the removal of titles was what the monarch, and notably other senior family members, desired. A Shift in Position An end to illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the concise communication showed clearly that the monarchy were aligning with the victim's account of incidents. Even more, for the premiere occasion they ultimately showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are considered essential, regardless of the truth that he persists in refuting the claims against him." In the end it is arrogance, selfishness and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his foolishness, self-gratification and greed, Andrew appears never to have understood that reality.