Seeing as it’s Halloween, aka the so-called season of the witch, it is perhaps worth noting that the commoner formerly known as Prince Andrew appears to have suffered what in certain circles is known as a ‘Tower’ moment.
In tarot, the Tower card represents a sudden, unavoidable moment of violent disruption, the destruction of long-held beliefs, the tearing down of previously unassailable certainties.
It is generally interpreted as some sort of reckoning, a fall from grace – and the effects are swift and devastating.
The card itself illustrates this: two distraught figures, one wearing a coronet, are pictured falling or being thrown from a collapsing and burning tower, lightning bolt striking the roof, dislodging – somewhat strikingly, given the circumstances – a crown, which also crashes to the ground.
Whether you believe in this sort of stuff or not, the references are spookily accurate. In the space of a few short weeks, Andrew has lost his titles, his home, his family, his entire sense of identity. He has been hurled from the lofty heights of revered royalty to the hard, cold ground below, where, by all accounts, he now lies, wondering what on earth has hit him. That’s one of the most surprising things about this whole saga: how he could not have seen this coming. But apparently he did not.
Maybe he thought his brother didn’t have it in him; maybe he genuinely thought he had done nothing wrong. Either way, he’s had an almighty wake-up call.
I have said it before, and it bears repeating: Andrew has not been convicted of any crime. He has not, technically, done anything illegal (that we know of). In the eyes of the law, he remains an innocent man.
Nevertheless, he has faced – and continues to face – serious allegations. Scandal and sleaze seem to follow him wherever he goes (let’s not forget also that whole business with the Chinese spy). He has, over the years, had ample opportunity to mount a defence of his behaviour and associations. And yet at every turn his response has only strengthened the case for the prosecution.
Scandal and sleaze seem to follow Andrew wherever he goes, writes Sarah Vine
In Tarot, the Tower is an ominous card and is generally interpreted as some sort of reckoning
From his high-handed dismissal of Virginia Giuffre’s accusations to his repeated attempts to conceal the truth about the nature of his relationship with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, it’s all somehow added up to a very grubby picture of a very grabby life.
That is one thing if you are just an ordinary Joe, your average spiv on the make. But if you are a prince of the realm, it won’t do. You can’t have all that privilege without assuming some of the responsibility. It’s just not on.
And there’s no doubt that Andrew has, by any standard, let alone that of a royal, behaved appallingly.
Nonetheless, he still has his supporters – mostly men (funny, that), but they do exist. They point out that it is not a crime to be friends with a convicted sex offender, and this is of course true.
They say that inviting three people who went on to be jailed for sex offences (Harvey Weinstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein) to your daughter’s birthday party is an unfortunate coincidence. This could also be true. They stress that being photographed with your arm around someone does not mean you had sex with them. This is definitely true.
But if you then appear on national television professing never to have met the girl, yet it transpires, as revealed by The Mail on Sunday, that you passed her details to your protection officer, that just doesn’t add up.
And when you claim to have severed all contact with Epstein yet are exposed – again by this newspaper – sending emails saying things like ‘we’ll play some more soon’, you can’t expect people not to interpret that as deeply suspicious. Especially when you’ve paid millions to buy the silence of this girl you’ve supposedly never met.
Even if Andrew is innocent of the specific allegations, as he claims, the overall situation still reeks of scandal and moral bankruptcy. His brother, King Charles, has had to make a judgment, and he has made the right one. When a branch rots, you have to cut it off, otherwise the whole tree eventually withers and dies.
King Charles, has had to make a judgment, and he has made the right one. When a branch rots, you have to cut it off, otherwise the whole tree eventually withers and dies
Virginia Giuffre repeated claims in her recently released posthumous memoir that she was trafficked to Andrew for sex on three separate occasions
But all may not yet be lost for Andrew. This could yet be the making of him. Provided no further irksome revelations emerge, he has an opportunity to leave behind the arrogant, entitled, boor that was the old Prince Andrew and build a better life as Mr Mountbatten Windsor.
All of us experience Tower moments in our lives. I’ve had a few myself, and each has seemed like the end of everything. But the truth is, if you are willing to accept the lessons they teach you, these shifts in fortune can become moments of great personal growth.
Every time I’ve been metaphorically hurled off my high tower, it’s taught me some valuable and
necessary lessons about myself, my failings, my mistakes, my vanities. Ultimately, those experiences have encouraged me to try harder to do better.
I’ve learnt who my real friends are, and what really matters to me. I’ve learnt to walk away from people and situations who aren’t good for me. I’ve learnt that it is perfectly possible to be happy with the blessings you have rather than constantly striving for more.
Sure, I had to suffer humiliation and heartache and a fair few long, dark nights of the soul to get to that point. But it was worth it.
And if Andrew embraces his new reality with the right attitude, who knows, he too might grow and learn from his mistakes. It won’t be easy. But he faces a choice: live out his life in furious isolation and bitterness, or find some way to redeem himself without making excuses or trying to cut corners as he has always done.
Besides, it’s not as if his situation is all that bad. There are worse predicaments to find oneself in than a cottage on a private estate in one of the most beautiful parts of Norfolk.
Life at Sandringham is hardly a hardship. He’ll have a roof over his head and food in his belly. And if it was good enough for Prince Philip, who lived on the estate when he retired, it will be more than satisfactory for his wayward son. Sure, it’s a far cry from what he’s used to, but by most people’s standards he is still very, very lucky. Indeed, by the standards of most royals who have had cause to displease their relatives, he’s positively blessed.
After all, King Henry I stole Normandy off his brother and then stuck him in jail for 30 years; Edward IV had his brother George, Duke of Clarence, executed for treason; Queen Mary did the same to her cousin Lady Jane Gray; and then there was all that business with Richard III and the princes in the tower.
Not only is Andrew’s head still firmly attached to his neck, he
also remains at liberty. Both
those things, if you ask me, are reasons to be grateful – and a good place to start the long climb back to respectability.
