KPMG ends its backing for Prince Andrew's mentorship scheme

The accountancy giant KPMG is not renewing its sponsorship of Prince Andrew’s entrepreneurial scheme Pitch@Palace, it has emerged, in the wake of his much-derided interview in which he defended his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The Duke of York has been heavily criticised as having shown neither contrition nor sympathy for Epstein’s child victims in the BBC Newsnight interview and his suitability as patron to scores of charities and organisations has been called into question as a result.

On Monday, after it was reported by Sky News, Buckingham Palace confirmed that KPMG, a founding partner of Pitch@Palace, a mentorship scheme for budding entrepreneurs, was no longer involved, its contract having ended in October.

The accountancy firm refused to comment but the prince’s relationship with Epstein – and Virginia Giuffre (formerly Roberts), who says she had sex with the duke when she was 17, a claim he denies – has been under renewed scrutiny since the billionaire financier was arrested in July. The previously convicted child sex offender killed himself in prison in August.

The palace said a full programme of Pitch@Palace events would continue. However, the organisation’s webpage listing its supporters, which previously included KPMG as well as the likes of Air Asia, Bosch, Standard Chartered, the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, Bank of China and Barclays, had been taken down.

Another partner, AstraZeneca, said it was reviewing its involvement in the scheme. A spokesman for the pharmaceutical company said: “Our three-year partnership with Pitch@Palace is due to expire at the end of this year and is currently being reviewed.”

The insurance company Aon confirmed it had asked after the BBC interview for its logo to be removed from the Pitch@Palace website, where the firm was described as a global partner. But it said that its name should never have been on the webpage in the first place as it has never been involved in the scheme in any capacity and was at a loss as to how it had been included.

Most of the charities and other organisations to which Prince Andrew has given his patronage, or with whom he holds some other role, remained tight-lipped on Monday, offering neither support nor condemnation.

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However, the Outward Bound Trust, founded in 1941, said it would be holding a special meeting to discuss the allegations against the prince, formerly a trustee but now a patron of the charity.

A spokeswoman said: “We are coordinating an additional board meeting that will take place in the next few days. On the agenda will be a discussion of the issues raised by the interview given by Prince Andrew on Saturday.”

Born in Brooklyn in 1953, Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender and financier who died in jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He had previously served 13 months in jail after being convicted in 2008 of procuring an underage girl for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute.

Epstein’s death came after unsealed documents in New York revealed the extent of his abuse of young women at his home in Palm Beach, New York and the Virgin Islands. An earlier attempt to prosecute him on similar charges had collapsed when authorities granted him an unusually generous deal to plead guilty to state prostitution charges in Florida.

Epstein made his name at the investment bank Bear Stearns before opening his own firm in 1982, managing money for clients with wealth in excess of $1bn. The business came with an intensive social schedule. Epstein positioned himself as a party figure in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, and courted the rich, famous and powerful across America and the world.

Epstein’s circle of friends and acquaintances has included Donald Trump; Bill Clinton; Prince Andrew; Leslie Wexner, founder of the company that owns the Victoria’s Secret lingerie brand; and many other prominent names in law, entertainment and politics.

Power2, a charity which works on equipping children and young people aged 13 to 21 with life skills and which counts Prince Andrew as a patron, suggested its position might change depending on future developments.

It said: “Power2 is conscious of the Duke of York’s recent TV interview, subsequent media coverage and previous statements from Buckingham Palace regarding the Jeffrey Epstein allegations. Our position is unchanged for the present: we will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

The Council of British Schools said it was aware of the recent publicity but insisted the prince had given “valued support” since becoming a patron in 2011. The organisation added that it “continues to be committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults worldwide”.

Another charity helping young people, the Peter Jones Foundation, set up by the Dragons’ Den panellist, said of its patron: “The palace has issued an emphatic denial and we have nothing further to add to this statement.”