Stupidity and Monarchical Hubris Ruined Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet

This episode commenced with a solitary photograph, possibly the most consequential ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

In the frame appeared the Duke of York, standing closely beside a female youth, while another individual grinned knowingly in the rear.

Without that image, taken at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the allegations of a young woman who stated she was trafficked across the Atlantic and forced to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a member of the royal bloodline?

A strange, indicative gesture by someone who had overtly claimed to have not been aware of her, said he could never have had sex with her, and yet paid a large amount of monarchical money to avert a long-delayed legal case.

Over a Decade of Disgrace

In this context, conversations of the royals acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This scandal has endured for the better part of 15 years since that image, and an additional photo of Andrew ambling amiably with a notorious individual emerged.

• Self-importance: How long did his family members, perhaps even his relatives, know that Andrew was so presumptuous?
• Dubious Friendships: They must have understood, if his aides and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some extremely unsavory friends given he openly invited them to palaces.
• Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Travel were documented in royal annual reports: helicopter flights from the estate to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the frequent flyer".

World of Deference

Then there was the arrogance which expected deference when he appeared in a area or the profound obsession about his honorifics used on his correspondence in letters to his associates.

He could get away with it while his matriarch, who inexplicably pampered him, was still living. The monarch did at least revoke him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his disastrous and, we now know, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of books giving more grim particulars of his actions and that of his connections.

Further disclosures have again highlighted Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his interaction with a disgraced individual.

People (and the media) were far in advance of the royals. There was not a single person of any consequence to support him, a result of all those years of hubris.

Institutional Fears

The more astute royals understood that. The one imperative is to transfer the monarchy, if not as heretofore at least intact and unblemished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the reputation of earlier rulers, proving they are valuable, accountable and attentive to their people.

His actions endangered all that in danger in an time when submission and discretion is no longer sufficient.

The Fallout

Finally, the famously hesitant sovereign was pushed additional. There was no other option. The institution had lost control of the narrative.

Now it is the loss of designations and the continued and permanent social disgrace that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Reduction: Demoted to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Historical Precedent: The initial royal to forfeit his designations in recent history
• Military Service: Especially painful given his role in the Falklands war

He remains a constitutional officer, on paper able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but neither of these will actually come to pass.

Future Prospects

Do individuals he meets still defer to him? Will they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Might they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the sovereign's vast estate at Sandringham.

There, he will be supplied by the king with one of the estate properties and given some form of private allowance.

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

Unresolved Issues

This is not over. There are still files in the custody of US Congress to be revealed.

• Parliamentary Interest: Might parliament seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or scrutinize the misuse of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Maybe for the moment the harm to the monarchy to the monarchy is contained. The statement from the royal household was evidently that the revocation of honorifics was what the sovereign, and particularly other senior monarchical figures, sought.

Changed Stance

No more pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the short announcement showed evidently that the royals were supporting the complainant's narrative of occurrences.

Additionally, for the initial instance they eventually showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The censures are considered essential, notwithstanding the truth 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 stupidity, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that lesson.