
Please try another search
By Estelle Shirbon and Carolyn Cohn
LONDON (Reuters) - A scheme for entrepreneurs founded by Prince Andrew has taken down the logos of its corporate sponsors from its website, as firms and charities distance themselves from the British royal over a sex scandal.
Andrew, Queen Elizabeth's second son, denies an allegation that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl procured for him by his friend Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in a U.S. prison in August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The scandal has escalated since Andrew's rambling denials and explanations in a disastrous TV interview aired on Saturday left many viewers incredulous, and his apparent lack of compassion for Epstein's victims drew widespread condemnation.
The "supporters" page on the website of Andrew's Pitch@Palace program, which is intended as a platform to boost the work of entrepreneurs, was no longer available on Tuesday.
Cached versions of the page, saved in June this year, showed it carried the logos of brands including KPMG, AstraZeneca, Barclays (LON:BARC), Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) and Bosch.
Pitch@Palace did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Insurance broker AON confirmed it had asked Pitch@Palace to remove its logo from the website. A spokesman said the logo had been placed on the site in error, as AON had no connection to the scheme.
KPMG, which was listed as a "founding partner" on the old supporters page, ended its sponsorship of Pitch@Palace on Oct. 31. Several national media in Britain reported the decision was linked to adverse publicity around Andrew at that time. A KPMG spokesman declined to comment.
Standard Chartered said it would not be renewing its sponsorship of Pitch@Palace when it expired at the end of the year.
A spokesman for AstraZeneca said the company's three-year partnership with Pitch@Palace was due to expire at the end of the year and was being reviewed.
Barclays, which has supported participants in the Pitch@Palace program for five years, declined to comment.
Separately, British charity The Outward Bound Trust has called a board meeting this week to discuss Andrew's patronage, a spokeswoman said. Other non-profit organizations are having similar internal discussions, British media said.
In Britain, royal patronage is usually considered an honor and a boost for charities.
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.