Prince Andrew arrives in Australia amid scandal
Prince Andrew has landed in Australia for business meetings as the scandal surrounding his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein continues to follow him.
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Prince Andrew has flown into Perth for business meetings as the scandal surrounding his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein continues to follow him.
The Duke Of York landed on Monday night for his “working visit”, Buckingham Palace confirmed.
Andrew has been dogged by his friendship with Epstein, who committed suicide in a New York jail before his child sex trafficking trial.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre claimed on US television that she had sex with Andrew when she was a teenager after being introduced by Epstein.
The Duke has denied the pair had a sexual relationship and that he had been involved in any wrongdoing.
However, he was photographed with his arm around the waist of Ms Roberts Giuffre when she was a teenager.
It comes amid reports that the FBI was due to interview Andrew over his friendship with Epstein within two months.
French police are also reportedly investigating Andrew’s visits to Epstein’s Paris property.
Buckingham Palace confirmed Andrew’s trip to Perth.
“The Duke of York is currently on a working visit to Perth. During this visit HRH will host both the Boot Camp and main event of Pitch@Palace Australia 3.0, which will encourage and support entrepreneurship in Australia, and provide international support and development opportunities for these early-stage businesses,” the palace said.
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“One of The Duke’s core areas of focus is to support and raise the profile of start-up businesses, and to act as an accelerant for entrepreneurs and new businesses.”
After three On Tour Events across the country we have nine confirmed #Entrepreneurs for Pitch@Palace 12.0!
— Pitch@Palace (@pitchatpalace) September 25, 2019
ðŸ“Sheffield: https://t.co/UqLCDQqaa6
ðŸ“Surrey: https://t.co/GKGlsRjktv
ðŸ“Newport: https://t.co/p50hJMcf95
The final 33 Entrepreneurs will be announced in a few days! 🤞 pic.twitter.com/9SS38bZWHp
The palace added: “In five years, 931 businesses have become part of the global Pitch@Palace family, creating 5,977 jobs and over £1113 million ($A2026 million) of economic activity.
“The program has held events or worked with Entrepreneurs from 62 countries across China, ASEAN, the Middle East, North America, Africa, Australia, Latin America and Europe.”
Andrew last visited Australia in December 2018.
He had cancelled other engagements in Northern Ireland after news of the scandal broke.
stephen.drill@news.co.uk
Originally published as Prince Andrew arrives in Australia amid scandal