The phrase used to be, “Innocent until proven guilty.”
Now it appears to be, “Guilty until proven innocent.”
And in this day and age of social media and the press media who have axes to grind, and don’t tell the story as straight facts but add in emotional and political bias and sensational headlines with each word carefully chosen to put the knife in deeper, no one in the public arena – ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – stands a chance.
In the court of my own private opinion, judged from his own words on tv, PAndrew is guilty of pomposity, arrogance and utter stupidity – that phrase from that disastrous tv interview where he basically said he didn’t regret his friendship with JEpstein because of what he gained, was just utter utter utter… words fail me… Who in their right mind would think that would be the correct answer to the question posed? Once it was shown that JEpstein was linked with some very dodgy business indeed, any sensible public person should have distanced themselves from him pronto. PAndrew has brought this all down upon himself, not by what he might or might not have done with that lifestyle and those friends, but by his own words and actions.
… and yet, I can’t help but feel a shred of compassion for the guy. Apart from his common-law-wife (that’s my opinion) and daughters, and his birth family, PAndrew has lost just about everything – his job, his travelling, his lifestyle, his friends (who do we ever see him with, except his horse?) – his whole reason for being. And let’s not forget he will most likely still be mourning his parents who haven’t been gone for that long. And it’s not as if he can go on holiday or take a normal job or do anything much at all, where he would be recognised and most likely derided and jeered at.
What does he do all day? He’s got nothing except his house, his home he’s lived in for decades, all paid for by him (lease) and mucho money spent on it; his own actual home. And people think he shouldn’t be living there, and say so at great length. Should he be living in a hovel? Would people be happy then? My own opinion is if he can afford it, and has paid for it, then he should live where he wants. He has not been convicted of anything, nor charged with anything.
As far as appearing on the Christmas walk (which he is fully entitled to do, it’s not a public event) then it could be said there’s a bit of bravery in being there, or arrogance; hard to tell, could be either or both. But whatever, it can’t have been easy for him. He looks old, he looks unhappy. He doesn’t appear to have any hobbies. So all he seems to do is live through each day, doing nothing much at all, and it’s not as if he’s an old man, hasn’t even hit retirement age.
Even with my jot of compassion I do agree totally that his life as a royal is over, and should be. Same with those two overseas. Take the three of them off the main page of the royal website. Keep that information strictly to the ‘working royals’. Everyone else who is an adult royal in the extended family can be listed in a separate area with a couple of images and some text; PHarry, PAndrew, PBeatrice, PEugenie and the Michaels of Kent; perhaps even the Phillipses, Tindalls, Armstrong-Jones and Chattos as they are grandchildren of a Monarch. They are all part of the family; they should be on the website, but there should be a clear and marked difference between the ‘working royals’ and other members of the family.