🔗 Share this article

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

In the frame appeared the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual beamed suggestively in the rear.

Absent that snapshot, shot at a gathering in 2001, who would have believed the claims of a young woman who stated she was transported across the sea and compelled to have perfunctory sexual encounters with a prince of the royal bloodline?

A curious, revealing action by someone who had publicly asserted to have not been aware of her, claimed he could no have had sex with her, and yet handed over a substantial sum of monarchical funds to settle a long-delayed legal case.

Years of Disgrace

Against this backdrop, conversations of the royals acting decisively to distance themselves from Andrew are wide of the mark. This affair has persisted for the majority of 15 years since that picture, and a further snapshot of Andrew strolling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender came to light.

• Hubris: To what extent did his siblings, maybe even his mother and father, know that Andrew was so self-entitled?
• Questionable Associations: They must have understood, if his aides and the authorities were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable associates given he publicly hosted them to royal residences.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the family did not know about his intimate behaviors, they certainly knew about his wastefulness with taxpayer funds.

Travel were printed in public records: chopper flights from the estate to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, exclusive air travel instead of scheduled services, all for the convenience of "the frequent flyer".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which required subservience when he entered a space or the supreme obsession about his royal titles used on his letterheads in letters to his personal acquaintances.

He could get away with it while his parent, who unaccountably spoiled him, was still living. The Queen did at least remove him of official roles and military positions in the wake of his catastrophic and, it is now clear, untruthful media appearance six years ago.

Current Situation

It was only in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of biographical works giving more troubling details of his behavior and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again exposed Andrew's assumption that he could escape lying about his relationship with a convicted criminal.

People (and the media) were far ahead of the royals. There was nobody of any significance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The more intelligent monarchical figures realized that. The one imperative is to hand down the institution, if not as heretofore at least intact and untarnished.

For generations the last 190 years trying to undo the image of earlier rulers, showing they are useful, dutiful and attentive to their citizens.

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

The Fallout

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive monarch was pressured further. There was no other option. The palace had lost control of the story.

Presently the removal of titles and the persistent and lifetime public humiliation that will hurt Andrew most deeply.

• Reduction: Reduced to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor
• Prior Instance: The initial monarch to surrender his designations in recent history
• Armed Forces: Notably painful given his role in the engagement

He continues to be a counsellor of state, theoretically able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but neither of these will truly occur.

Future Prospects

Can persons he comes across still show respect to him? Will they still slip up and call him Prince? Might they say Mr,

Certainly, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the monarchy's vast grounds at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be provided by the king with one of the royal residences and given some sort of personal stipend.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a token rent for more than 20 years, and the county is a bit remote, but even so it may not be sufficiently removed.

Unresolved Issues

The situation continues. There are still files in the hands of US Congress to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Will parliament seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the improper use of public money
• Legal Possibility: There may even be a law enforcement inquiry into his behavior

Possibly for the present the institutional damage to the crown is limited. The message from the institution was plainly that the revocation of titles was what the king, and especially other senior royals, wanted.

A Shift in Position

No more deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the brief communication showed evidently that the royals were aligning with the complainant's narrative of incidents.

Furthermore, for the premiere occasion they finally showed concern for the victims: "The censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he persists in refuting the claims against him."

Ultimately it is entitlement, self-interest and inactivity that will kill the institution. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew appears never to have learned that truth.