Prince Andrew humiliated as charities receive major boost

Prince Andrew has been left humiliated after several charities he supported saw a rise in profits since he stepped down as a senior royal. The Duke of York was forced to step down as the royal patron of 64 charities after he was made to quit his royal duties following his car crash Newsnight interview.

The disgraced royal spoke to journalist Emily Maitlis in an interview about his alleged relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew stood down as a working royal in November 2019. And now, a damning report notes that the Duke of York's patronage for the charities he supported had no "negligible" impact on their revenue. The study by the philanthropic analysis organisation Giving Evidence claimed that, in general, there had been no negative impact on the charities and that his patronage was not demonstrably helpful in securing funds.

Prince Andrew's Charity Patronages: Analysis of the Effects on the Charities, by Caroline Fiennes, founder of Giving Evidence, and Dr Clemens Jarnach, a data scientist and political sociologist, examined the change in revenue of the accounts of the duke's charities before and after he stood down.

It also revealed that half the charities saw a rise in profits following his departure. The report compiled data from 35 organisations he supported. Compiling data from 35 organisations, the study found that about half of Andrew's former charities saw a rise in profits following his departure, reports The Times.

It concludes: "We find no evidence that Prince Andrew's patronage of charities helped the charities in terms of revenue: there was no discernible decline in their revenue when his patronage ended."

The study found "no convincing evidence that Prince Andrew's patronage increased charities' revenue" and "there was no discernible effect of his stepping back". The report noted that "charities which want revenue may be wasting their time in seeking, securing and/or servicing a royal patron".

Fiennes said: "We investigated whether anything happened to the revenue of his patronee charities before and after the patronage ended, which did not also happen to all other charities ... It didn't."

Children North East saw its revenue increase by 56%, Yorkshire Air Ambulance grew by 47%, and the Fly Navy Heritage Trust increased in revenue by 346%. However, City Gateway and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation's revenue dropped by 68%.