A Princely Dilemma

To begin my rant: I have never been a “fan” of Prince Andrew. But this recent media frenzy for sleaze, and the mob mentality stirred by it is sickening. If I am not fond of the Prince, then I am far less fond of the media induced "guilty until proven innocent" craze.

Over the years, I have been friends with people whom I learned later had been involved in some seedy, or even illegal activity. Should I apologize for my friendship? I won’t.

Indeed, do we cast people aside, simply because they have fallen? Not in the world I want to be part of. Our friendship may be tempered; it may even come to an end, but why the need to apologize. Why the need to turn our backs on them.

And even accepting the possibility that the Prince is lying about his lack of involvement with certain young women, I have difficulty with the accusations.

First of all, it is difficult to accept that the Prince would have known that these very mature looking women were underage at the time. They certainly do not appear to me from photographs I have seen of them at the time, to have been teenagers, innocent or otherwise.

And what if they were. Our age restrictions are purely arbitrary. They vary from place to place, from culture to culture, even from circumstance to circumstance, and from time to time. Yes, it would have been illegal. But would it have been, if it were true, immoral or repugnant? I don’t think so. These young women, more than likely, knew exactly what they were doing. They were not naïve virgins. They were gold diggers, not victims.

And I cannot believe that any young woman was forced to have sex with the Prince. If they did so, I suggest that they did so willingly, and for whatever motive. Come on! A good looking, relatively young British Naval Officer, and a Prince to boot! Many young woman, and probably many young men, would have jumped at the opportunity. 

So I have problems with the allegations. I have problems with the sleazy media reporting. I have problems with the reaction of the vocal and indignant public.

Further, if it is true that the Prince has, or had at the time, a medical condition that made it impossible for him to sweat, then there are credibility issues with the accusers. 

We love to idolize the rich and famous. We love it even more when we can see them fall. Then, I say, pity our society.