🔗 Share this article Stupidity and Royal Self-Entitlement Sunk Andrew, and It Could Continue Yet It all began with a solitary photograph, perhaps the most impactful ever captured of a member of the monarchy. In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a teenage girl, while a companion smiled conspiratorially in the background. Lacking that snapshot, taken at a party in 2001, few would have credited the allegations of a young woman who declared she was trafficked across the ocean and obliged to have cursory sexual encounters with a prince of the royal family? An odd, telling move by someone who had overtly claimed to have not been aware of her, asserted he could never have had relations with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of family funds to settle a long-delayed lawsuit. A Long Period of Disgrace In this context, talk of the royal family acting decisively to cut Andrew off are inaccurate. This controversy has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that image, and another snapshot of Andrew ambling amiably with a notorious individual surfaced. Self-importance: For what duration did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his relatives, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled? Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his staff and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some extremely unsavory associates given he unabashedly welcomed them to palaces. Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with state resources. Trips were documented in public records: private aircraft flights from the estate to a country club and back again in time for lunch, private flights instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "the travel enthusiast". A Life of Privilege Furthermore the entitlement which required respect when he walked into a space or the supreme consciousness about his honorifics used on his letterheads in communication to his friends. He could get away with it while his mother, who unaccountably indulged him, was still living. The monarch did at least remove him of official roles and military positions in the wake of his disastrous and, as revealed, mendacious media appearance six years ago. Latest Events It was only in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the publication of accounts giving more grim particulars of his conduct and that of his connections. More information have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could escape being untruthful about his relationship with a disgraced individual. Society (and the media) were far in advance of the royals. There was no one of any consequence to speak up for him, a result of all those years of hubris. Royal Worries The more intelligent royals realized that. The one imperative is to transfer the institution, if not as heretofore at least intact and unstained. They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are beneficial, accountable and reactive to their citizens. Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an era when deference and discretion is no longer enough. Consequences Eventually, the famously indecisive sovereign was pressured additional. There was no alternative. The institution had surrendered command of the story. Currently the stripping of honorifics and the ongoing and life-long public humiliation that will afflict Andrew most deeply. Demotion: Reduced to just a private citizen Prior Instance: The first member to lose his titles in recent history Armed Forces: Especially painful given his role in the Falklands war He continues to be a counsellor of state, theoretically able to substitute for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the crown, but none of these will ever come to pass. Coming Developments Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Might they still make mistakes and call him Your Highness? Will they even say Andrew, Naturally, he is not retiring to suburbia, but to the sovereign's large estate at a monarchical property. At that location, he will be provided by the sovereign with one of the royal residences and given some form of personal stipend. This differs from his previous residence, where he paid a nominal lease for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit far, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed. Pending Matters The situation continues. There are still files in the custody of American legislators to be made public. Governmental Scrutiny: Could parliament demand more Fiscal Review: Or examine the improper use of taxpayer funds Judicial Potential: There may even be a police investigation into his actions Possibly for the present the harm to the monarchy to the crown is contained. The narrative from the institution was clearly that the removal of designations was what the king, and especially other senior family members, wanted. Altered Approach The cessation of deception that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, significantly, the brief statement showed evidently that the institution were siding with the accuser's version of occurrences. Additionally, for the initial instance they ultimately showed regard for the victims: "The measures are considered essential, notwithstanding the truth that he persists in refuting the claims against him." Ultimately it is entitlement, self-interest and indolence that will destroy the institution. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew appears never to have learned that truth.