Untrue Andrew Had a Great Fall

I personally know someone who has seen Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor naked. They were shipmates in the Navy, freshening up in the changing room after a game of squash – long before the metaphorical stripping of the latter’s royal appurtenances. Talk about foreshadowing.

There has been a tectonic shift in the British perception of the royal family. While politicians are regularly heckled, have eggs, milkshakes and sometimes punches thrown at them, people generally respected the royals. There are also those who don’t care for them. However, they usually stay at home and don’t throng the streets swooning over the anachronistic pomp and pageantry.

Untrue Andrew has dragged the entire clan down to earth from their exalted citadels. People have woken from their dream state and suddenly realised that kings and queens are people too. Remember Albert Camus in The Outsider? His protagonist, a prisoner on death row, talks about the judges who condemned him: 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 (judges) 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟.

Perhaps that’s why King Charles III was recently heckled when he visited Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire, England.

“How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?” the protester harangued the King.
“Have you asked the police to cover up for Andrew?”

Unthinkable until Untrue Andrew – the favourite son of our late Queen – ruptured the royal chrysalis and demonstrated what a complete prat he really is.

I like Charles, or at least I appreciate his candour on sensitive international issues. I should speak in the past tense, though, because that was when he was Prince of Wales. He has now been effectively silenced after being secured in the king-box. He chose kingship over free speech. Poor man.

Personally, I have been indifferent to the royal family. I know some of my British friends may be fans of the royals, and my intention is not to cause hurt. But when we remember the atrocities committed all over the world in the name of the King or Queen, you will understand why I am not a royalist.

In a sense, Andrew has done us all a favour by his callous and unacceptable behaviour. He has exposed a deep crack in the institution of the monarchy, and we can all look into the royal changing rooms. No patching up will work now – not even if Andrew were investigated and exonerated. Fat chance of that happening, though, because he has already been found guilty by the 𝘷𝘰𝘹 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘪.

All the King’s horses and all the King’s men cannot put Andrew back together again.