Folly and Royal Self-Entitlement Ruined Andrew, and It Might Persist Yet

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

There stood the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a young woman, while a companion smiled conspiratorially in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a adolescent who declared she was moved across the sea and compelled to have perfunctory intimate contact with a member of the royal bloodline?

A strange, indicative action by someone who had overtly claimed to have no been aware of her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet paid a large amount of monarchical resources to settle a protracted court action.

Over a Decade of Controversy

Against this backdrop, talk of the royal family acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has endured for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and an additional photo of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: How long did his family members, maybe even his mother and father, realize that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his employees and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory companions given he openly invited them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money.

Trips were listed in public records: helicopter transfers from the palace to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the presumption which demanded deference when he entered a area or the supreme obsession about his honorifics used on his official documents in communication to his personal acquaintances.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least strip him of public duties and military positions in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Current Situation

Merely in the last two weeks that events accelerated, following the release of books giving more disturbing particulars of his behavior and that of his associates.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's belief that he could avoid deceiving about his contact with a disgraced individual.

The public (and the press) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of presumption.

Royal Worries

The more astute family members recognized that. The primary concern is to pass on the institution, if not as previously at least intact and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of earlier rulers, proving they are beneficial, accountable and responsive to their citizens.

Andrew was putting all that in danger in an era when respect and privacy is no longer enough.

The Fallout

Ultimately, the well-known uncertain monarch was pressured further. There was no alternative. The palace had lost control of the account.

Presently the removal of honorifics and the ongoing and permanent social disgrace that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Historical Precedent: The first member to lose his titles in contemporary era
• Military Service: Notably hurtful given his role in the engagement

He is still a counsellor of state, theoretically able to act for the king, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but neither of these will truly come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Mr,

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

In that place, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the grace and favour houses and given some form of financial support.

This is not his previous residence, where he paid a nominal rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Outstanding Concerns

Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the custody of overseas authorities to be disclosed.

• Political Pressure: Will legislators demand more
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the misuse of state resources
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Perhaps for the time being the harm to the monarchy to the crown is restricted. The message from the palace was clearly that the revocation of titles was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior royals, sought.

Changed Stance

No more pretence that Andrew was acting willingly. And, notably, the brief statement showed evidently that the monarchy were supporting the victim's account of occurrences.

Furthermore, for the initial instance they eventually showed concern for the affected individuals: "The censures are considered essential, regardless of the fact that he maintains his innocence of the accusations against him."

In the end it is arrogance, self-seeking and laziness that will destroy the monarchy. In his folly, self-gratification and greed, Andrew appears never to have understood that truth.