Is the party over for Boris?

"Ambushed by a cake" may not endure as long as Marie Antoinette's famous phrase. But there was a similar "let them eat cake" tone-deafness in the defense of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from a member of Parliament justifying Johnson's attendance at his own birthday party in June 2020, right at the height of stringent lockdown rules Johnson's government imposed.

Had the bash been the prime minister's primary, or only, offense, Brits may have chalked it up to an awkward acceptance of a surprise party, or just Boris being Boris. But it wasn't a one-off. More like once a week, like "wine time Fridays," an example of recurring revelry requiring aides to traipse a suitcase to stock a 34-bottle wine refrigerator that was wheeled through the back door of No. 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's residence that's the iconic image of the British government.

In fact, the festive infractions were so frequent they've metastasized into a scandal now known as "partygate." Fleet Street tabloids have been quick to cover events like a Christmas party at Conservative Party headquarters, which reportedly included Johnson seated by an aide draped in tinsel and another sporting a Santa hat. Several other Christmas, cabinet-staff, and goodbye parties for departing staffers flouted lockdown rules.

Most poignant — and politically damaging — was the news of two parties for departing colleagues on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral last year. The next day, a mourning Queen Elizabeth II, dressed in black, right down to her mask, sat alone, observing the coronavirus-crisis restrictions Johnson had imposed.

"The queen is symbolic, but there are times when members of the royal family pick up themes somehow to epitomize what the country is going through." said John Roberts, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Speaking from the United Kingdom, Roberts added that "It's very rare. But this was one of them. And she epitomized what the country was going through, and No. 10 Downing Street did not."

What Brits went through was much more restrictive than Americans' ordeal. Far more time away from work. And sometimes, something much more valuable: time away from loved ones, especially elders, some of whom died without connecting with their friends and family at the end of their lives.

Johnson's story has morphed from denial to defense that the illicit events were work-related, or that he was unsure of the very rules his government invoked. Whatever the events were, "they assault the spirit of the regulations," said Roberts. And most, he added, would say he broke the regulations.

And proved it may be, by an official inquiry led by Sue Gray, a staid civil servant reflecting her name — especially in contrast to the colorful Johnson. But in the most recent development there's also now a Metropolitan Police inquiry into whether any (or many) laws were broken, and they've requested "minimal reference" to events investigated "to avoid any prejudice to our investigation," which some critics believe may blunt the force of Gray's findings.

And yet Johnson, just like the prime minister he replaced, Theresa May, may still eventually face an intraparty vote of confidence from fellow Tories. He may not win. Or he may — but like May in 2019 and Margaret Thatcher in 1990, he may survive but be weakened to the point of eventually resigning. Johnson's "vote-winning capacity was considerable," Roberts said. But now "there's the view that he might be a liability rather than an asset to the Tory Party."

The prime minister's diminution might be ascribed to hypocrisy in the U.S. But "what bothers U.K. voters is less hypocrisy, it's fairness," said John Watkins, a professor of English at the University of Minnesota. Watkins, a former resident of, frequent visitor to, and keen expert on Britain, added that "it is something so deep in British culture." Brits, Watkins said, "don't like people who don't play by the rules."

Roberts concurred. "It's much more about fairness than it is about hypocrisy," he said. "There was this tremendous sense at the beginning of the pandemic that we're all in this together." Countries, continued Roberts, "have their own opinion of what they stand for. We have a belief in Britain that we stand for fair play."

Watkins said that there is "a profound national cultural myth of shared sacrifice that goes back to the second world war." That sense was revived during the pandemic, including a radio revival of "We'll Meet Again," Dame Vera Lynn's song about separation that became a wartime test of Brits' stiff upper lips. And there were other wartime echoes, like 100-year-old veteran Tom Moore's inspirational daily walk to raise funds for the National Health Service.

"I keep coming back to that moment," Watkins said. "There is that sense that 'we're Londoners, too, and we have that bond and think by the grace of God, we're still alive.' And there was this sense that we are all in this together, even the king and queen. And suddenly [amid the pandemic] you have Boris sending out people to get more bottles of wine as he parties down in No. 10 Downing during lockdown, and it just stinks."

However malodorous, partygate probably won't bring disorder to the U.S.-U.K. relationship, which will remain "special" regardless of who lives at No. 10. "Anyone who comes into office is going to continue to be a friend of the United States," said Roberts, who added that this stands even if Labor wins the next general election.

It's likely that Britain's more forceful role in the Russia-Ukraine crisis will continue, too. Roberts credited key defense and foreign policy aides — and not Johnson — for "keeping their eye on the ball" as the U.K. government differentiated itself from its previous partners in Europe by its eagerness to send arms to Ukraine, as well as accuse the Kremlin of plotting to install a puppet in Kyiv.

The continental crisis regarding Russia, the unresolved Brexit status with Northern Ireland, chronic pandemic challenges and other issues make these serious times in the United Kingdom. To an increasing number of Brits — even those who backed the Conservatives knowing its libertine leader would not be like the solid, stolid John Major, or other more proper prime ministers — Boris Johnson lacks the seriousness to match the challenges.

At minimum, the partying is over. Whether the Conservative Party is over him remains to be seen.