Buckingham Palace confirmed to HuffPost on Thursday that despite Prince Andrew stepping away from his royal duties for the foreseeable future, the disgraced royal will still be pursuing his Pitch@Palace program .

The Duke of York will continue to work on Pitch and will look at how he takes this forward outside of his public duties, and outside of Buckingham Palace, a spokesperson said.

Many of the companies associated with the program, which is meant to connect entrepreneurs with helpful contacts and resources to accelerate their growth, have decided to rethink or end their connection with the initiative.