Buckingham Palace was involved in a meeting about the future of Prince Andrew’s tech project Pitch@Palace Global, as part of discussions about his future funding, Sky News has learned.
In recent weeks, documents released as part of court proceedings involving an alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, have thrown light on the extent to which the Duke of York and his advisors have been keen to resurrect his Dragons’ Den-style project as a “possible source of funding”.
The palace has in the past insisted it was not involved in Prince Andrew’s financial matters, saying they were private because he was no longer a working member of the royal family.
But it is now understood that last summer, at a time when King Charles was still funding his brother, a meeting took place with Startupbootcamp, a Dutch company that funds startup businesses around the world, that was interested in the Pitch@Palace Global network.
While the King’s advisors were not involved in negotiating any details of a potential deal, it appears they were keen to get reassurances that any future links would not cause problems for the wider royal family.
The King no longer provides financial support to his brother.
Described as “Dragons’ Den-style” events for tech startups, Pitch@Palace was set up in 2014 and seen as Prince Andrew’s charitable project, helping connect entrepreneurs with potential investors. But a Pitch@Palace Global private company was also set up in 2017.
In 2019, Prince Andrew was forced to step away from public life following an interview about his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Sky News has seen documents released as part of the recent Chinese spy investigation that show, since 2019, the Duke’s intention to carry on with Pitch@Palace in some form.
A document dated 21 August 2021 clearly states the Duke needed money at the time, and “saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.
And as late as 22 May 2024, Mr Yang says in a further document: “The intention is still to resurrect the Pitch program, under the new brand and name, Innovate Global.”
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This week there have been reports the Duke’s youngest daughter, Princess Eugenie, attended an event in Tokyo last year, run by Innovate Global and Startup bootcamp, the company the palace had its meeting with last summer.
There remains a huge interest in Prince Andrew and how he is funding his private life away from public duties.
