Andrew Cuts The Last Link He Had As a Working Royal Member With Latest Move
After years of damaging headlines, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has now closed the final venture tied to his former life as a working royal.
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has closed the last door to his royal life, as the Palace tidies up loose ends. After years of damaging headlines and living life in the royal shadows, the former Prince has now shut down Pitch@Palace Global, the last remaining link to his former life as a working royal. The project was launched to bridge the gap between young entrepreneurs and investors, which came under scrutiny after Mountbatten Windsor's associations with Jeffrey Epstein first came to light.
The closure appears to be a final step in the Palace's attempt to distance him from the Firm. According to Companies House records, the former Prince had remained listed as the sole ‘person with significant control’ until recently. His name was changed from ‘The Duke of York’ to ‘Prince Andrew’ just two weeks ago. However, the record has yet to reflect his latest demotion to commoner status, following King Charles's formal stripping him of his princely status through Letters Patent sealed under the Great Seal of the Realm recently.
Pitch@Palace was launched in 2014 as an initiative to connect start-ups with investors at events hosted in royal venues such as Buckingham Palace. The platform was initially non-profit, but its global arm, created in 2017, introduced a commercial model that allowed Mountbatten Windsor to receive a percentage from investment deals. Given the innovative premise, the project grew rapidly. However, it began to falter after Mountbatten Windsor’s association with Epstein came to light. As per The Telegraph, sponsors started withdrawing their investments, and directors also resigned. By late 2019, even Queen Elizabeth ordered him to step back from its charitable branch.
Despite growing scrutiny. Mountbatten Windsor tried to relaunch the venture under a new name, Innovate Global, alongside Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo. Records suggest that the two had allegedly planned to invest $250 million in African technology start-ups through a partnership with the Dutch company StartUpBootCamp. His daughter, Princess Eugenie, even appeared at one of their 2024 events in Tokyo. But all of his efforts quickly unraveled when the deal collapsed and the rebranding effort failed to gain traction amid further controversy over Tengbo’s reported links to Chinese intelligence.
The final accounts were filed in March 2025, and they revealed the reality behind the decline. Pitch@Palace Global reported assets of about $15,300, compared to more than $321,600 the previous year. The documents confirmed that the company would be wound up within a year. For the former Prince, this brings an end to a long and desperate attempt to rebuild his career outside royal life. With his titles gone and career opportunities drying up, he has also been banished to Sandringham, far from the royal circle.
