Buckingham Palace confirms Prince Andrew will continue to work on Pitch@Palace scheme
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Buckingham Palace this morning confirmed that Prince Andrew will continue to work on his Pitch@Palace initiative, as was first reported by City A.M. last night.
A source close to Pitch@Palace told City A.M. that it was “business as usual” at the programme, which connects entrepreneurs with investors.
Read more: Entrepreneurs back Pitch@Palace as pressure grows on Prince Andrew
Sky News tweeted: “Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the Duke of York will continue to work on Pitch@Palace because it is a private initiative.”
Today a number of businesses have expressed their support for the scheme, as the Duke was urged to give evidence to US authorities.
It comes after the Duke announced he would step back from public duties for “the foreseeable future.”
The Duke said: “It has become clear to me over the last few days the circumstances relating to my former association to Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many charities and organisations that I support.”
The announcement from the palace came hours after two more FTSE 100 companies abandoned the prince amid the fallout from his Newsnight grilling over links to the late billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Satellite manufacturer Inmarsat followed Standard Chartered and KPMG in pulling the plug on continuing support for Pitch@Palace, while BT said it would not work with skills firm Idea as long as the Duke remained a patron.
A source close to Inmarsat confirmed to City A.M. that the firm had withdrawn its support.
Advertising Week Europe and Gravity Road have also ended their associations.
But today entrepreneurs offered their backing to the scheme, saying it would be a shame for the initiative to end.
Read more: Prince Andrew steps back from public duties but will continue business role
Will King, founder of grooming firm King of Shaves, told the BBC it was “really sad” the Pitch@Palace initiative had “been affected by the personal issues around the Duke of York”.
He told the BBC’s Today programme: “If you’re going to continue the Pitch@Palace in the royal environment, where you have an infrastructure that is paid for – I think, in part – by the taxpayer, it would be an extraordinary shame that the palace don’t see the opportunity in continuing this initiative.”
Main image credit: Getty