English National Ballet bosses have allegedly been secretly lobbying to give Prince Andrew the push as their patron as MailOnline can today reveal that ten of his charity’s lucrative sponsors have now turned their backs on the royal.
The Duke of York’s disastrous BBC interview and toxic friendship with Jeffrey Epstein has caused ‘real concern’ on the board of trustees and among staff that his official role could undermine their work with youngsters, it has been claimed.
A source told The Times: ‘Everyone is hoping that it can be resolved without requiring collective discussion. But at some point it will require that discussion if he does not stand down. The trouble is he has a thick skin and I am sure he would be reluctant to’.
Andrew is the patron of 189 charities and organisations including 28 golf clubs and societies – and many have yet to say if they will stand by him in the wake of his friendship with child abuser Jeffrey Epstein.
MailOnline can also today reveal that ten of the 35 worldwide sponsors of Andrew’s beloved Pitch@Palace charity have pulled the plug on their support and funding.
Five big businesses: Advertising Week Europe, KPMG, Aon, Standard Chartered and Gravity Road say they will no longer be involved. Five universities and education groups in Australia, Canada and the UK are also cancelling.
The Telegraph has claimed that other supporters have asked for reassurance that the Duke of York will quit completely to save the charity for young entrepreneurs from collapse.
The Duke of York is a patron of the English National Ballet (pictured at the 2011 summer party) but bosses are reportedly plotting to force him to quit before he damages their reputation, it was claimed today
These are the 35 businesses and that support his start -up project: Pitch@Palace but ten have now quit. 5 businesses: Advertising Week Europe, KPMG, Aon, Standard Chartered and Gravity Road and five academic institutions: Bond University in Queensland, Melbourne’s RMIT, University of Wollongong, Murdoch University in Perth and Fondation Rideau Hall in Canada. Barclays, the Stelios Foundation and the Chinese Li Ka Shing Foundation are the only three to stand by him
Andrew was at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, to promote his Pitch@Palace charity in October (pictured) but the institution has now severed ties with him
Pictured: Prince Andrew leaves Buckingham Palace after spending the afternoon there on Tuesday – the first time he has been seen since his BBC interview
It came as Andrew finally broke cover 72 hours after his BBC catastrophe as he was banished from royal duties.
The Duke of York should have been meeting flood-hit communities in the north of England yesterday but instead he was diverted to Buckingham Palace as the backlash after his Newsnight special kept getting worse.
Sources close to the Queen denied she had summoned her son from Windsor for crisis talks amid the furore over his interview about convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
They insisted it was ‘business as usual’ for the beleaguered royal and they angrily hit back at media coverage of the debacle, saying the public ‘traducing’ of the prince was turning into a ‘personality-motivated witch-hunt’.
But his visit to the flood-hit towns of Fishlake and Stainforth in South Yorkshire was called off as big businesses abandoned him because of his toxic links to Epstein and allegations he had sex with the paedophile’s ‘slave’ Virginia Roberts when she was 17.
Public confidence in him is also on the rocks after a poll found just one in 20 people who watched the Newsnight special were convinced by his bizarre alibis including being in Pizza Express on the night Virginia claims they had sex in London.
MailOnline revealed last night that five multi-million pound businesses have cut ties with Prince Andrew’s Dragons’ Den-inspired charity Pitch@Palace after he was skewered by Emily Maitlis.
And it has emerged that his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who remains close to Andrew, was the ‘driving force’ behind the Royal’s decision to conduct his disastrous TV interview that blew up in his face.
As the prince was put on desk duties, it has emerged:
- Five big businesses including KPMG and Standard Chartered reveal they will no longer support Andrew’s young entrepreneur’s charity – and three universities have also dumped him along with two academic foundations;
- And BT said it could no longer continue Duke of York’s Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA);
- Andrew would be willing to co-operate with the US authorities investigating Epstein’s crimes;
- MailOnline reveals that Sarah Ferguson was instrumental in encouraging her ex-husband to do the BBC interview that went so badly;
- Anger as Prince Andrew is mentioned in TV debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn;
Andrew was earlier seen leaving Windsor Castle for London – but sources close to the Queen insisted that he was not summoned by his mother
Andrew, pictured driving a Bentley followed by his security team in a Land Rover Discovery, as his trip to flood-hit South Yorkshire was scrapped. The Palace blamed electioneering up there but insiders contradicted this by claiming it was because of his BBC disaster
A source said the trip was scrapped as a result of the fall-out from his BBC Newsnight interview about Jeffrey Epstein (pictured together in 2011)
Andrew was forced to cancel a visit to the flood-hit towns of Fishlake and Stainforth, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, yesterday. A source said his trip – which was not publicised in advance – was scrapped as a result of the fall-out from his BBC Newsnight interview.
But Buckingham Palace, while confirming that he had intended to quietly visit the area, denied this, saying it was due to electioneering in the region.
‘The Duke was due to attend to offer his support and thanks to the emergency services but with an election campaign and a politician also visiting it was not appropriate for the visit to continue,’ an official said.
Flood victim Pam Webb said she thought a visit by Andrew would not have been a good move as it would have detracted from the crisis.
She said: ‘We would welcome a royal visit, but maybe not by him at this time. Efforts have to be focused on the flooding and what’s happened here.’
Instead Andrew was spotted leaving his Windsor mansion, Royal Lodge, to drive himself into London in his £150,000 Bentley, yesterday morning.
He parked up in the palace forecourt and remained there during the day.
Sources close to the prince expressed their anger at the interview’s coverage, particularly reports over how firms were now pulling their support from his initiatives such as Pitch@Palace, a scheme for entrepreneurs.
One royal insider said: ‘If you want to hammer a man while he is down then go for it, but Pitch has done, and is continuing to do, an immense amount of good work.’
The source said both of the prince’s initiatives, Pitch@Palace and digital awards scheme iDEA, had independent operating structures and had been built to ‘weather any storms’.
But they also insisted that there were no plans for Andrew to step down as their figurehead.
‘This is a witch-hunt and is, as far as anyone can see, one that is personality-motivated,’ they said.
‘If he had done something criminal then that would be one thing, but he hasn’t. This is completely unfair and unbalanced.’
One source also reiterated that Andrew would be willing to co-operate with the US authorities investigating Epstein’s crimes.
‘He made clear in the interview that of course if anyone wants to ask him a question then of course he is going to answer it. It is ridiculous to think he wouldn’t… but they haven’t asked him yet,’ they said.
The source also reiterated that Andrew would be willing to co-operate with the US authorities investigating Epstein’s crimes.
‘He made clear in the interview that of course if anyone wants to ask him a question then of course he is going to answer it. It is ridiculous to think he wouldn’t… but they haven’t asked him yet,’ they said.
The future of Prince Andrew’s pet project Pitch@Palace appears in jeopardy as yet major supporters pulled the plug and their financial support
Pitch@Palace’s supporters page, which contained the logos of its 35 biggest funders, has been deleted as multi-million pound businesses wanted away
Five multi-million pound businesses have cut ties with Prince Andrew’s Dragons’ Den-inspired charity and three more are now considering dumping the crisis-hit royal after his car crash BBC interview, MailOnline can reveal today.
Advertising Week Europe, which has supported the Pitch@Palace project and was hailed as an official supporter by the prince, is the latest company to pull its backing for the beleaguered duke.
Bosses will not be inviting Andrew or his team to its four-day summit in London – one of the world’s largest gatherings of advertising executives and experts being held in the capital next March.
A spokesman said: ‘While our support for entrepreneurs remains just as strong, we can confirm that Pitch@Palace will not be held as part of Advertising Week Europe 2020’.
Andrew’s former supporters are in full retreat today with the future of his charity for young entrepreneurs now looking precarious because of the Epstein scandal and damaging claims he had sex with his 17-year-old ‘slave’ Virginia Roberts three times.
Pitch@Palace has been forced to delete the webpage hailing its 35 key backers – and five big businesses: Advertising Week Europe, KPMG, Aon, Standard Chartered and Gravity Road say they will no longer be working with the charity.
It is now known how much this will cost the charity, but KPMG was paying them £100,000-a-year.
Two of Australia’s most prestigious universities, Bond University in Queensland and Melbourne’s RMIT University, also severed their ties with the controversial royal’s charity today. Murdoch University and the University of Wollongong will also review their links.
There are also major doubts about whether the 189 leading charities and groups Andrew supports away from Pitch@Palace will all stand by him. London Metropolitan University is considering whether to sack him as a patron and the University of Huddersfield says it is ‘listening’ to students left raging over the decision to back him as their Chancellor.
Prince Andrew was forced to cancel a visit to the flood-hit towns of Fishlake and Stainforth, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, yesterday
Andrew made ‘unbelievable’ racist comments about Arabs including camel jokes, claims ex-Home Secretary Jacqui Smith
Prince Andrew is pictured with King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud during the Saudi royal family’s state visit to the UK in 2007
Prince Andrew made racist jokes about Arabs during a state banquet for the Saudi Royal family, a former Home Secretary has claimed.
Jacqui Smith, an ex-cabinet member, said the Duke of York made the ‘unbelievable’ comments while mingling with British politicians at Buckingham Palace.
Mrs Smith told Iain Dale on the LBC Election podcast that the conversation, in which the prince told jokes he thought those present ‘would find amusing’, left the group with ‘slack-jawed’ expressions.
She refused to repeat the words uttered by the prince, but confirmed that one joke included ‘a comment about camels’ that was ‘as worse as you can imagine’.
Mrs Smith did not reveal when the interaction took place, but the only state visit by the Saudi royal family to occur during her time as Home Secretary was in 2007, with a banquet taking place at the palace on October 30.
The accusation piles yet more pressure on the prince, who is already reeling after his disastrous BBC interview on Saturday and amid claims he once used the N-word during meetings with Downing Street.
Earlier today Standard Chartered revealed to MailOnline that its bosses have decided they will not be renewing its sponsorship when it ends in February.
Pitch@Palace has lost five key sponsors and three more including AstraZeneca are formally considering whether to quit after his BBC disaster.
KPMG, one of London’s big four accounting firms, was the first company to end its £100,000-a-year sponsorship last night in the face of ‘adverse publicity’. Insurance giant Aon then asked for its name to be removed.
There are also major doubts over Andrew’s links to 189 charities in the UK and abroad.
Andrew is a patron of the Outward Bound Trust [OBT] after he inherited the role from his father Prince Philip and the charity is holding a special meeting to discuss the issue later this week. The prince’s daughter Beatrice is a trustee but will be excluded from taking part.
The University of Huddersfield is the only organisation to vocally back their Chancellor – but this has sparked insurrection among students who are lobbying Andrew to resign with a ‘Not my Chancellor’ campaign on campus and a major vote later this week.
And London Metropolitan University told MailOnline this afternoon they will review whether to keep Andrew as a patron at its next Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday, November 26.
KPMG, one of London’s big four accounting firms, was the first to admit it was protecting its reputation by ending its £100,000 a year sponsorship.
Insurance giant Aon asked for its name be removed from the scheme’s website and drugs maker AstraZeneca said it was reviewing its relationship.
Children’s charities and schools linked to Prince Andrew are also in disarray today as they distanced themselves from the under-fire royal.
A string of major companies and charities are also examining their links with Andrew after his extraordinary TV interview on Saturday.
Children North East and The Children’s Foundation, both charities Andrew lists on his official website, refused to tell MailOnline if he will keep his official role supporting them in light of the Epstein scandal.
The Council of British International Schools [COBIS] praised the duke’s work with them since 2011 but also refused to say if their link with the prince remains today.
Prince Andrew (pictured during his interview with Emily Maitlis on the BBC’s Newsnight) is facing a furious backlash over his relationship with Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein’s sex slave Virginia Roberts has filmed a BBC interview she will use to shatter Prince Andrew’s denials they ever had sex when she was 17 as the royal’s woes got worse today.
The 35-year-old, who calls the Duke of York her ‘abuser’, spoke to Panorama before he spoke publicly for the first time to say they never met or had sex – even suggesting the world-famous picture of them together in London in 2001 could have been faked.
A source close to Ms Roberts says she ‘made no bones about her thoughts on the Duke’s denial’ during her sit-down with Panorama, in which she is said to demand he ‘comes clean’.
But she is said to be irate that her own interview has not been shown amid suggestions it was held back to ensure Andrew’s sit-down with Emily Maitlis wasn’t jeopardised – but BBC insiders claim it will form a wider Epstein investigation that is not yet ready to broadcast.
US-born Ms Roberts, who now uses her married surname Giuffre, spoke to Panorama in the US three weeks ago – but may have to be interviewed again to respond to the duke’s bizarre alibis including being in Pizza Express on the night she claims they had sex in London.
Andrew also denied he allegations he ‘sweated profusely’ during intercourse by claiming he couldn’t perspire for more than 20 years after an adrenaline-rush while being shot at in the Falklands War.