Folly and Regal Arrogance Sunk Andrew, and It May Not Be Over Yet

This episode commenced with a single photograph, possibly the most significant ever taken of a royal family member.

There stood the Duke of York, with his arm around a teenage girl, while an associate grinned suggestively in the rear.

Lacking that snapshot, taken at a social event in 2001, who would have believed the assertions of a teenager who declared she was transported across the Atlantic and forced to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a prince of the royal bloodline?

An odd, indicative gesture by someone who had publicly stated to have not heard of her, claimed he could no have had relations with her, and yet handed over a large amount of monarchical money to resolve a protracted legal case.

Years of Scandal

In this context, conversations of the royals acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This scandal has endured for the better part of 15 years since that photograph, and another snapshot of Andrew walking amiably with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Arrogance: How long did his siblings, maybe even his relatives, know that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he unabashedly welcomed them to palaces.
• Financial Extravagance: If the family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his extravagance with public money.

Journeys were printed in official documents: chopper travel from the palace to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Additionally the arrogance which demanded respect when he appeared in a space or the extreme consciousness about his designations used on his correspondence in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his mother, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still living. The sovereign did at least remove him of royal responsibilities and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his ill-fated and, we now know, deceptive media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last 14 days that events sped up, following the publication of biographical works giving more disturbing details of his actions and that of his connections.

More information have again highlighted Andrew's thinking that he could avoid being untruthful about his interaction with a convicted criminal.

The public (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was no one of any importance to defend him, a outcome of all those years of hubris.

Monarchical Concerns

The more intelligent royals recognized that. The primary concern is to transfer the monarchy, if not as previously at least complete and unstained.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the reputation of past sovereigns, showing they are useful, accountable and responsive to their citizens.

He was placing all that in danger in an age when deference and secrecy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Finally, the notoriously uncertain king was pressured further. There was no alternative. The palace had surrendered command of the narrative.

Now it is the stripping of honorifics and the continued and permanent social disgrace that will pain Andrew most severely.

• Downgrading: Lowered to just a commoner
• Prior Instance: The primary monarch to lose his designations in recent history
• Naval Career: Especially hurtful given his service in the conflict

He is still a constitutional officer, in principle able to substitute for the monarch, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but neither of these will ever happen.

Future Prospects

Can persons he encounters still show respect to him? Might they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Would they say Sir,

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

In that place, he will be furnished by the king with one of the royal residences and given some type of personal stipend.

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

Outstanding Concerns

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

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could lawmakers request additional information
• Financial Investigation: Or investigate the misuse of public money
• Criminal Investigation: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his conduct

Perhaps for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The statement from the palace was clearly that the stripping of designations was what the sovereign, and especially other senior royals, desired.

Altered Approach

The cessation of illusion that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise announcement showed plainly that the royals were aligning with the victim's version of events.

Additionally, for the initial instance they finally showed regard for the victims: "The censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he persists in refuting the allegations against him."

Ultimately it is arrogance, self-interest and inactivity that will undermine the crown. In his stupidity, self-gratification and greed, Andrew gives the impression never to have understood that truth.