Prince Andrew may have withdrawn from his royal work, but he is continuing with some travel as he plans to promote one of his key projects in the coming days.
One day after announcing that he is stepping “back from public duties for the foreseeable future” in the wake of his bombshell interview with the BBC about his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew, 59, is set to head to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf for one of his entrepreneur-supporting events for his Pitch@Palace program.
The program, which started in the U.K. five years ago as a platform to amplify and accelerate the work of entrepreneurs, has branched out worldwide and the latest meeting is scheduled for November 27.
Although it is one of Andrew’s most well-known projects, and one of his most publicly-facing, aides say that it is in fact a “private initiative.” A palace source says that he will travel privately to the Gulf Kingdom for Pitch and then have some time off.
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“Pitch is a private initiative, it is not a public duty. He will continue to work on Pitch,” the source says.
Usually the key final round of Pitch events are held at St. James’s Palace – sometimes with Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie there too. But, as he continues to work on Pitch, he will explore how to do this outside of the palace. “Naturally during this time there will be a transition period while things are finalized,” the source says.
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Pitch@Palace has seen some of its major funders and supporters distance themselves from the program in the aftermath of the BBC interview.
