City bank Standard Chartered becomes latest organisation to ditch Prince Andrew over sex claims

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Standard Chartered is severing links with Prince Andrew's flagship charity
AP

Banking giant Standard Chartered today became the latest high-profile organisation to sever links with Prince Andrew’s flagship charity amid the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

The international financial services group, headquartered in the City, reportedly said it would no longer be a partner in the Duke of York’s Pitch@Palace initiative, which supports tech start-ups and entrepreneurs.

A spokesman told MailOnline: “We won’t be renewing the sponsorship when it ends in February.”

The decision came as Andrew faced mounting pressure over his friendship with the paedophile financier and his denial of claims that he used the “N-word” in a meeting with a Downing Street adviser. The prince insists he was not aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

Pitch@Palace was launched in 2014 to give entrepreneurs the chance to bid for finance and meet potential mentors at events attended by the prince.

Andrew is facing mounting pressure over his friendship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein
BBC

Another backer of the scheme, Bond University in Australia, also cut its ties today following the prince’s “car crash” BBC Newsnight interview about his friendship with Epstein.

In a statement, Bond University said: “We have previously said any new agreement would be considered in 2020. However, in light of recent events, the university does not intend to seek any further involvement.”

Last night it emerged that accounting firm KPMG had ended its £100,000-a-year sponsorship in the face of “adverse publicity”.

A slew of other charities and organisations were considering their relationship with the prince.

A spokesman for the British Exploring Society, which has Andrew as its patron-in-chief, told the Standard: “We are keeping our relationship under review, and there is a board meeting tomorrow.”

The Jubilee Sailing Trust said trustees “will be discussing Prince Andrew’s role as its patron at its December board meeting”.

It emerged today that the duke’s sponsorship of an entrepreneurship prize at the National Business Awards has also stopped. Awards director Richard Alvin said the decision was, however, “totally unrelated” to the current controversies.

Students at the University of Huddersfield, where Andrew is chancellor, called on the duke to resign .

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