Britain’s Prince Andrew has stepped down from his role at his business mentoring scheme, Pitch@Palace, after he withdrew from royal duties following public scrutiny over his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The prince’s aide Amanda Thirsk, who organised the catastrophic BBC interview the Duke of York gave last week, will take up the reins as chief executive of Pitch@Palace. Now she has taken on the new role, Ms Thirsk will no longer the private secretary to the Duke.
The scheme connects entrepreneurs and early stage businesses with potential backers, including CEOs, influences, angel investors, mentors and business partners.
It is not clear what the Duke’s role will be at his main charitable project going forwards. Last night, the Duke cancelled a planned trip to Bahrain for a Pitch@Palace “boot camp” amid the controversy.
On Wednesday, the prince said he had decided to step down from his royal duties for the “foreseeable future”.
Throughout the week, he has been under heavy pressure to step down from his role after being accused of sleeping with one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Following the accusations and an explosive interview with the BBC last week, several financial backers and companies associated with the project withdrew their involvement from it.
On Friday, a spokesperson for Barclays said that the bank would no longer be supporting the project.
“In light of the current situation, we have informed Pitch@Palace that going forward we will, regretfully, no longer be participating in the programme,” said the spokesperson.
On Tuesday, accountancy firm KPMG said it was withdrawing its support from Pitch@Palace, because of the continuing negative publicity around the Duke.
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which is listed as a “strategic partner” for Pitch@Palace, also said it was reviewing its involvement in the initiative. Insurance company Aon has asked for its logo to be removed from the programme’s website.
Charity Outward Bound, which educates young people about outdoor activities and has historically had close ties with the British royal family, said its trustees would meet this week to discuss whether Prince Andrew would remain as its patron.
Speaking to The Times on Thursday, Rich Wilson, an entrepreneur invited to pitch at one of the scheme's events, said he was "astonished" at the prince's decision to remain involved.
“The prince’s continued involvement is simply madness and will only serve as a trigger for the death of Pitch@Palace.
