PRINCE Andrew last night said he will step back from royal duties as corporate sponsors continued to sever ties with his entrepreneurship schemes following his widely criticised BBC interview last week.

The announcement from the palace came hours after two more FTSE 100 companies abandoned the Duke of York amid the fallout from his Newsnight grilling over links to the late billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Last night the duke confirmed the Queen had accepted his request to "step back from public duties for the foreseeable future," after days of negative headlines for the royal and the many private and charitable organisations with which he has links.

He said: "It has become clear to me over the last few days the circumstances relating to my former association to Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family's work and the valuable work going on in the many charities and organisations that I support."

However, City A.M. understands the duke will continue his work with the entrepreneurship initiative Pitch@Palace, despite firms distancing themselves from being associated with the programme.

Satellite manufacturer Inmarsat followed Standard Chartered and KPMG in pulling the plug on continuing support for Pitch @Palace, while BT said it would not work with skills firm Idea as long as the duke remained a patron.

A source close to Inmarsat confirmed to City A.M. that the firm had withdrawn its support.

BT distanced itself further, saying that its dealings had been "with its executive directors, not its patron, the Duke of York" but a spokesperson said the company hoped to work further with Idea "in the event of a change in their patronage".

The firms joined the growing number of businesses, charities and academic institutions to distance themselves from the Duke of York in light of questions over his friendship with Epstein, the infamous financier who killed himself earlier this year while imprisoned.

On Tuesday, Advertising Week Europe and tech company Gravity Road joined Standard Chartered in ending their association with Pitch@Palace, a mentoring programme which connects entrepreneurs with investors. Founding partner KPMG was the first to announce it had terminated its involvement with the scheme, and pharmaceuticals giant Astrazeneca followed soon after.

Despite a source close to Pitch@Palace stressing it was "business as usual", speculation will naturally increase about the long-term future of the programme after a wave of adverse publicity.

City A.M. understands a group of entrepreneurs were attempting last night to find signatories for a statement in support of the initiative.

(c) 2019 City A.M., source Newspaper