🔗 Share this article Stupidity and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet The saga started with a single photograph, perhaps the most consequential ever snapped of a royal family member. There stood the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual beamed suggestively in the backdrop. Without that image, captured at a party in 2001, few would have credited the claims of a adolescent who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a member of the monarchy? An odd, indicative action by someone who had overtly claimed to have no been aware of her, asserted he could no have had sex with her, and yet handed over a large amount of his mother's resources to settle a protracted court action. Over a Decade of Disgrace Considering this, discussions of the royal family acting decisively to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and another snapshot of Andrew strolling congenially with a convicted sex offender surfaced. Hubris: For what duration did his family members, possibly even his mother and father, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled? Questionable Associations: 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 family did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds. Journeys were listed in official documents: private aircraft flights from the royal residence to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of commercial flights, all for the convenience of "Airmiles Andy". World of Deference Additionally the entitlement which expected subservience when he walked into a area or the profound obsession about his designations used on his official documents in communication to his personal acquaintances. He avoided accountability while his parent, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still surviving. The sovereign did at least remove him of official roles and military positions in the wake of his ill-fated and, as revealed, deceptive media appearance six years ago. Latest Events It was only in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the release of biographical works giving more troubling particulars of his actions and that of his associates. Additional revelations have again highlighted Andrew's belief that he could get away with deceiving about his contact with a notorious figure. People (and the media) were far in advance of the royals. There was no one of any significance to speak up for him, a outcome of all those years of presumption. Royal Worries The wiser royals realized that. The one imperative is to pass on the monarchy, if not as previously at least intact and untarnished. They have spent the last 190 years trying to undo the legacy of past sovereigns, showing they are useful, accountable and reactive to their subjects. His actions endangered all that in danger in an age when respect and discretion is no longer sufficient. Aftermath Ultimately, the famously hesitant sovereign was prodded further. There was little choice. The institution had relinquished authority of the story. Presently the stripping of designations and the continued and lifetime public humiliation that will afflict Andrew most severely. Reduction: Demoted to just a private citizen Past Example: The first monarch to surrender his titles in contemporary era Military Service: Especially hurtful given his service in the conflict He continues to be a royal advisor, on paper able to act for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but neither of these will truly happen. Coming Developments Can persons he comes across still show respect to him? Will they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Sir, Of course, he is not withdrawing to a common area, but to the monarchy's extensive grounds at a royal residence. At that location, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some type of private allowance. This is not his prior accommodation, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit distant, but even so it may not be far enough. Pending Matters Matters remain unresolved. There are still files in the hands of American legislators to be disclosed. Governmental Scrutiny: Might parliament seek further action Monetary Probe: Or scrutinize the misuse of public money Judicial Potential: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his actions Maybe for the moment the institutional damage to the monarchy is contained. The narrative from the palace was clearly that the removal of titles was what the king, and notably other senior family members, desired. Changed Stance An end to illusion that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, remarkably, the concise statement showed clearly that the royals were siding with the complainant's version of incidents. Additionally, for the first time they eventually showed consideration for the victims: "These actions are judged required, despite the reality that he persists in refuting the allegations against him." Finally it is arrogance, selfishness and laziness that will undermine the institution. In his folly, personal excess and venality, Andrew gives the impression never to have grasped that lesson.