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30 minutes ago, Wordsworth said:

perhaps Prince Philip threatened to take people out for a drive and that was enough to keep them in line until now. 

I laughed. Inappropriate, I know, but damn, that was funny ?

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Sounds like he may be forced into retirement against his will as many of his charities are evaluating his sponsorship.

from the Guardian online.

 

KPMG ends its backing for Prince Andrew's mentorship scheme

Accountancy firm not renewing sponsorship, it emerges, after much-criticised TV interview

Haroon Siddique and Anugraha Sundaravelu

Mon 18 Nov 2019 14.27 ESTLast modified on Mon 18 Nov 2019 20.05 EST

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The Duke Of York at a Pitch@Palace event in 2015.  The Duke Of York at a Pitch@Palace event in 2015. Photograph: WPA Pool/Getty Images

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.

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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.

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.”

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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.”

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I am not sure how anyone in the Royal advisement thought this interview was a good idea.  Even hearing about it, before it occurred, we all were thinking Train Wreck.

And yet it went on, with a Royal, at least Stateside, that is relatively unknown.

Up until now he was know for his wild but lovable ex wife and daughters who wore those hats at Will’s wedding,    

Why would he agree to this unless he was spit and polished to the shiniest package possible? 

Why would they not prep him for every possible angle before he went on?  

Maybe they did, but someone should have just cancelled the whole thing??‍♀️

Edited by branchop
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The PR rep they hired last month quit a week or two ago. This was a specialized disaster PR rep with loads of experience. My assumption is that either Andrew can't or won't be coached and the PR person decided to cut his losses....

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I think the idea that Andrew just can’t fathom that being royal wont get him out of this isn’t too far off the mark. His entire life is one of unearned privilege; you see it in the way he complains about his kids not being funded by the crown!  i could well see that being accountable for his actions (in the way his older brother as future king has to be, at least nominally, due to the scrutiny on him) isn’t something he’ll ever have had to do. 

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lifebuoy-life-preserver-boat-water.png

Self Preservation Strategy

November 19, 2019

[Blind Gossip] Celebrities do all sorts of crazy things in the name of damage control.

Here’s one that we didn’t see coming!

This foreign-born celebrity is in big legal trouble.

His family can circle the wagons around him all they want – and shell out millions to pull all the legal strings – but his reputation is actually getting worse each day.

That’s where reputation repair comes into the picture.

Since his alleged crimes center around young women, one of the things they need to do is convince people that he is not interested in girls half his age.

Setting him up in a “relationship” with a more appropriately-aged woman seems logical.

However, the suddenness of such an arrangement would likely be met with a great deal of skepticism.

The other option? Having him reunite with his ex-wife!

They already live in close proximity and have a good relationship. It would be much easier to “sell” their reconciliation than a new love interest. They have been laying the groundwork with public declarations of closeness and support. She is all for it, including marriage. He is not quite on board with the marriage bit yet but is considering it.

Look, she may not be the smartest or greatest person in the world, and their re-coupling would certainly be weird. On the other hand, she is very loyal and people already believe that they are close.

It just might work.

What would she get out of it?

Self-preservation.

Her fortunes – and that of their children – are tied to his. So it certainly makes sense for her to do what needs to be done to save everyone’s homes and reputation and dignity.

We’ll see what happens!

 

 

Similar: Wounded Little Boy

Couple:

[Optional] Do you think they should do this?

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There’s been a sense Fergie’s been getting lined up to take the fall by certain members of the press over the last few days; I wouldn’t go out of my way for him.

i also doubt that him stepping back will leave a gaping void, but Charles might be pleased given he wants to trim the monarchy when he’s king -  this is his chance to show losing minor members doesn’t have an impact. 

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20 minutes ago, Hoyaheel said:

He's stepping out of public life "for the foreseeable future" 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-prince-andrew-stepping-down-20924010

 

That happened faster than I thought it would, considering how tightly he grips to fame. But I’m pretty sure someone (Charles, Phillip) stepped in and said it’s time to go, or else. 
 

I do feel sorry for the queen. It must be hard for any mother to see her much beloved son involved in something so vile. Outside of the monarchy entirely, just as a mother, at her age, this must be a tough emotional blow. I’d say it’s the kind of thing that could push an older woman too far, but she’s a tough lady and I just don’t see her falling to pieces. It does make my “odds on abdication before death” numbers shift a little farther from zero. 

 

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On a happier note, today is Elizabeth & Phillip's 72nd wedding anniversary!! I don't care who you are, I think that's fucking amazing ?

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To be fair, unlike most parents she’s probably the one still paying for the party. Hope she can get the deposit for the trampoline centre back! 

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I didn't realize until a few articles in that Andrew's "removal from public life" is him being fired and losing his salary. That has to smart, and Charles must be thrilled to finally be getting what he's wanted for years. I'm guessing this isn't the way he wanted it to go down, though.... 

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An article I read listed $75 million in investments, his childhood trust fund and a $26,000 Royal Navy Pension.  He will survive the loss of the reported $323,000 salary. 

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He may survive the reported salary loss but I suspect being a social pariah is a much more damning punishment in those circles.

Neither punishment is enough in this instance.

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On 12/18/2019 at 11:38 AM, Hoyaheel said:

I'm wondering if Meghan will reappear in January, massively pregnant??

Guess not.....

prince-harry-meghan-markle-07jan20-09.jpg

Edited by Hoyaheel

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How fortunate to be in a position to have the time to “work to become financially independent” when you decide you don’t like your current role in life! That part strikes me as tone deaf, to be honest. 
 

I’m not a royalist so don’t care much beyond my usual grumps about use of taxpayers money, but I suspect Harry may have just pissed off a lot of people! 

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I agree the wording was not as good as it could be! He has a trust fund (right?) so I think he's saying they do plan to do some work, not just live off that money, but holy cow so many better ways to write or allude to that!!! Damn, they had 6 weeks (at least) to come up with something!!

Edited by Hoyaheel

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Exactly - I couldn't decide if they meant “we will be financially independent from now on by working” or “we’ll need funding from you for a bit until we are able to find work and fund ourselves”. 

I imagine their bills will be hefty - surely security costs alone will be enormous! 

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