PRINCE Andrew was summoned for crisis talks at Buckingham Palace yesterday morning — having scrapped a visit to villages stricken by floods.
He was also coming under growing pressure to step down from public life amid accusations he had sex with a 17-year-old girl.
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And it emerged more multi-million-pound backers are ditching his charity in the wake of his “car crash” Newsnight interview, in which he denied the allegations and defended his friendship with the paedo US tycoon Jeffrey Epstein.
The under-fire-royal, 59, faces being dropped as patron at one of Britain’s top public schools too.
The Sun can reveal the embattled Duke of York stepped down from a trip to flood-hit South Yorkshire yesterday as the sex scandal threatened to engulf him.
In a visit planned a week ago, the shell-shocked prince was due to see Army operations and a clear-up in Stainforth and Fishlake.
But it was quietly pulled, with friends saying he was “downcast” and was terrified about being booed by members of the public.
Instead, he left his Windsor Castle home and headed to the Palace.
'THE BIGGEST ROYAL CRISIS IN A GENERATION'
A royal source revealed: “Prince Andrew and the Royal Household have been insistent the current controversy will not impact his work or public role.
“But to cancel a visit to the flood region is a sign of just how damaging this how now become for him.
“It’s hard to see how he could possibly do his work in this climate. This has become the biggest royal crisis in a generation and it’s hard to see it going away any time soon.
“He was at Buckingham Palace for some sort of crisis summit yesterday. It’s dawned on him just how bad things are.”
Last night, a source in South Yorkshire confirmed Andrew had pulled his plans to visit over the past 48 hours.
He was due to spend all day in the area after travelling from his home, Royal Lodge at Windsor — where he has been holed up since his extraordinary TV broadcast on Saturday.
PM Boris Johnson visited the area last week and was given abuse by some residents who accused him of arriving too late to help, and Andrew could have been the target of mockery.
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A local revealed: “The Duke was due to come but we have been told he can’t make it, partly because so many politicians have been here and it wasn’t thought necessary.
“However, you do wonder whether it’s due to all the publicity and you can kind of understand it.
“There were serious concerns he could be jeered or booed, which would make things even worse.”
Friends say Andrew was initially delighted with the interview and, as The Sun revealed on Monday, he told the Queen at church on Sunday that the Newsnight special had been a “great success”.
But yesterday he was said to be unhappy after seeing negative worldwide publicity.
A friend said: “He accepts he missed a golden opportunity to express sympathy for Epstein’s victims and he is kicking himself.
“He was advised the interview was meant for him to clear his name and perhaps he concentrated too much on that and not enough on the damage done by Epstein and his relationship with him.
“If he could turn the clock back he would do things differently but it’s too late.
“At least he has now put a defence out there in the public domain and people know where he is coming from if he is called to give evidence under oath.”
BIG FIRMS CUT TIES
He has no other engagements planned this week and is busy consulting aides as to his next move.
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: “We would not comment on any private meetings the Duke may have had.”
But he is said to be “worried sick” that more major sponsors will pull out of his Pitch@Palace entrepreneurs initiative and that the whole enterprise could collapse.
£10k REWARD
SHE is at the centre of the Andrew “sex abuse” storm.
But socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of finding victims for the Prince’s paedo pal Jeffrey Epstein, is nowhere to be seen.
The daughter of the late newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell is said to have been in various cities in the US and Europe.
Do you know where she is? The Sun today offers a £10,000 reward.
To be eligible, you must provide information which directly results in The Sun successfully making contact with her in person.
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Five have now ditched him in the wake of the scandal surrounding his links to convicted sex offender Epstein, 66, found dead in his New York jail cell in June.
US banking giant Standard Chartered yesterday became the latest big firm to cut ties with the charity.
Finance companies KPMG and Aon, plus Advertising Week Europe and tech firm Gravity Road, had announced they were ending their partnership with the start-up.
Two Australian universities have walked away from it too.
Meanwhile, Andrew faces being dropped as patron at top boys’ public school Whitgift in Croydon, South London.
Parents are mounting a petition to the headteacher to have the royal removed from his role.
One parent said: “It is difficult to imagine a more inappropriate patron than a royal who is friends with a paedophile.
“What kind of example does this set to impressionable young boys?”
London Metropolitan University will review the Duke’s role as its patron next week.
And Huddersfield students voted in favour of a motion to lobby Andrew to resign as chancellor.
It is difficult to imagine a more inappropriate patron than a royal who is friends with a paedophile.
Concerned parent
The Outward Bound Trust will meeting later this week to discuss whether the Prince should remain its patron.
It comes just 24 hours after founding members KPMG was the first to reveal it had ditched the Prince’s pet charity project.
The scandal has prompted Aon to ask Pitch@Palace to remove its logo from the website, saying it has never been a backer.
Standard Chartered said: “We won’t be renewing the sponsorship when it ends in February.”
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SHOCKER
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PARK SEX ATTACK
Woman raped in park while two men stood and watched in 'despicable attack'
ANNUS HORRIBILIS 2
Royals worried about toll Prince Andrew crisis is taking on the QueenAdvertising Week Europe said: “While our support for entrepreneurs remains just as strong, we can confirm that Pitch@Palace will not be held as part of Advertising Week Europe 2020.”
US tech company Cisco will end its contract in April next year and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is reviewing its partnership.
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