🔗 Share this article

This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, arguably the most significant ever captured of a member of the monarchy.

There stood the Earl of Inverness, standing closely beside a female youth, while an associate smiled conspiratorially in the backdrop.

Lacking that snapshot, taken at a social event in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who stated she was transported across the Atlantic and forced to have brief sexual encounters with a individual of the royal bloodline?

A strange, indicative move by someone who had overtly stated to have not heard of her, said he could never have had relations with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of family funds to settle a drawn-out court action.

Years of Disgrace

In this context, conversations of the royals acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are misguided. This affair has continued for the better part of 15 years since that picture, and a further photo of Andrew ambling congenially with a convicted sex offender surfaced.

• Arrogance: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, possibly even his parents, understand that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have realized, if his staff and the authorities were fulfilling their roles, that he had some highly questionable associates given he openly invited them to royal residences.
• Monetary Excess: If the household did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were printed in public records: private aircraft transfers from the royal residence to a country club and back again in time for midday meal, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the convenience of "the travel enthusiast".

A Life of Privilege

Then there was the presumption which required subservience when he entered a space or the profound awareness about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his associates.

He avoided accountability while his parent, who inexplicably spoiled him, was still surviving. The monarch did at least strip him of royal responsibilities and military positions in the wake of his catastrophic and, as revealed, deceptive public statement six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last two weeks that events progressed rapidly, following the release of accounts giving more disturbing particulars of his actions and that of his companions.

Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's assumption that he could get away with deceiving about his contact with a notorious figure.

Society (and the media) were far more perceptive of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to speak up for him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Monarchical Concerns

The wiser monarchical figures recognized that. The one imperative is to hand down the monarchy, if not as previously at least whole and unblemished.

They have spent the last 190 years trying to reverse the reputation of previous monarchs, proving they are valuable, accountable and attentive to their people.

He was placing all that in jeopardy in an age when respect and privacy is no longer sufficient.

Aftermath

Finally, the notoriously indecisive king was pressured further. There was no alternative. The royal household had lost control of the story.

Presently the stripping of honorifics and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will pain Andrew most deeply.

• Demotion: Lowered to just a private citizen
• Prior Instance: The initial royal to forfeit his designations in recent history
• Military Service: Particularly stinging given his service in the conflict

He remains a constitutional officer, in principle able to substitute for the king, and he is still in the succession to the monarchy, but neither of these will truly come to pass.

Coming Developments

Can persons he comes across still acknowledge him? Could they still slip up and call him Sir? Might they say Andrew,

Certainly, he is not moving to a common area, but to the monarchy's vast estate at Sandringham.

There, he will be furnished by the monarch with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of financial support.

This differs from his prior accommodation, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance.

Pending Matters

The situation continues. There are still records in the hands of US Congress to be disclosed.

• Political Pressure: Will legislators request additional information
• Monetary Probe: Or examine the waste of taxpayer funds
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his conduct

Possibly for the present the reputational impact to the crown is restricted. The statement from the royal household was clearly that the removal of titles was what the monarch, and particularly other senior family members, wanted.

A Shift in Position

An end to deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, remarkably, the concise communication showed clearly that the monarchy were aligning with the complainant's narrative of events.

Additionally, for the first time they ultimately showed regard for the affected individuals: "These actions are considered essential, regardless of the fact that he continues to deny the accusations against him."

Finally it is entitlement, selfishness and indolence that will kill the monarchy. In his folly, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew seems never to have learned that truth.