LONDON — Prince Andrew will resign as an ambassador for British businesses abroad, Buckingham Palace said Thursday.
The 51-year-old prince, Queen Elizabeth's second son, has recently been the subject of a series of embarrassing revelations, including his friendship with a convicted sex offender.
The palace said the prince would "relinquish his role as the United Kingdom's special representative." He had been promoting British trade overseas since 2001, but he had come under pressure in recent months.
Last year it was revealed that the billionaire son of President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan had paid $24 million in 2007 for a mansion the prince owned in the south of England. The amount was $5 million more than the asking price for the home, which had been on the market for five years. The prince denied any wrongdoing.
A few months later, a confidential State Department diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks described the prince as speaking "cockily" and verging "on the rude" during a trade discussion in Kyrgyzstan.
This year it was revealed that the prince had maintained a close friendship with Jeffrey E. Epstein, a billionaire American financier sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for soliciting an under-age girl for prostitution.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
