After Prince Andrew's tell-all interview on BBC Newsnight, the Duke of York announced his decision to step down from all of his royal duties. News emerged that his charitable partners and other organizations already distanced themselves from the royal amidst the fallout. Did Queen Elizabeth II permit his son to do this?
Prince Andrew issued a statement about his decision to quit from his work, four days after he spoke about his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Royal Family's official Twitter account shared the official announcement of Sarah Ferguson's ex-husband.
Since the issues about Prince Andrew's connection with Jeffrey Epstein emerged, it started to cause major disruption to the work of the royal family and the charities and organizations that he supported. "Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission," he said.
Prince Andrew admitted that he regrets his "ill-judged" association with Jeffrey Epstein, who took his own life while awaiting trial for his sex trafficking charges. He knew that his demise left a lot of unanswered questions, especially for his victims.
Prince Andrew gives his sympathy to everyone who has been affected by the issue and waiting for some formal closure. "I can only hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives," he added. He also promised that he would cooperate with any "appropriate law enforcement agency" with their investigations, if needed.
Business Times recently reported that Queen Elizabeth was "on board" with Prince Andrew's interview so that his son could clear his name. However, after the talk, the father-of-two received criticisms over his TV appearance. The British news outlet claimed that the prince was only making excuses and back-peddling.
He even faced further disgrace when the charitable partners and educational institutions that he supported distance themselves from him. According to Time, just like any other senior members of the royal family, Prince Andrew is patron of several foundations and other civic events.
The duke lets them use his name and gets the monarchy's support to every good work they do. However, supporters of undertakings connected to Prince Andrew now think if they still want to be associated with him after the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Standard Chartered bank, the sponsor of Prince Andrew's flagship entrepreneur project, Pitch@Palace, decided not to renew its sponsorship for "commercial reasons." KPMG also planned to do the same, while AstraZeneca said that it is still reviewing their three-year partnership, which would end this year.
