Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has applied to close down the business behind his platform to help entrepreneurs, it has emerged. Pitch@Palace was founded by the former Prince in 2014 to connect start-ups with potential investors, mentors and industry figures, and he claimed it had seen 3,000 jobs created.
In a document filed with Companies House on Tuesday signed off by Arthur Lancaster, the firm's sole director, the company filed an application to be "struck off and dissolved". Companies House lists Prince Andrew of Royal Lodge, Windsor as having "significant influence or control" over the business.
The UK arm of the business was wound up after Andrew stepped back from public duties in 2019, following his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview in which he was questioned about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. While the likes of its corporate partners, including Barclays, KPMG and Standard Chartered ended their relationships with the project, the global operations have remained active until now.
The business was mired in controversy last year when it emerged the founder-partner of Pitch@Palace China was an alleged spy. Yang Tengbo, who is said to have become a close confidant of Andrew, was banned from the UK by the Home Office. The latest set of accounts showed it had £10,965 in cash at the end of March, down from £220,990 the year before.
© Getty ImagesDutch company Startupbootcamp (SBC) had held talks about buying the Pitch@Palace network, a sale which reportedly could have provided Andrew with a multi-million pound financial lifeline. However, sources confirmed to The Telegraph last month that the deal is now "dead in the water," following the damaging headlines surrounding the former Duke.
Ousting from royal life
Andrew's downfall began with his connections to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and the sexual abuse civil claim filed by Virginia Giuffre (settled out of court in 2022). Andrew vehemently denies all of Ms. Giuffre's allegations, but the King formally stripped him of his titles and style following a string of scandals.
© GettyThe former Prince is set to move out of Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park to the King's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. The palace has not disclosed which residence Andrew will relocate to, but options on the privately owned Sandringham estate include Wood Farm (Prince Philip's former secluded home), York Cottage (historically gifted to the future George V and his wife), or Gardens House (the former head gardener's abode).
