The Duke of York's private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, has reached a legal settlement to end her employment in the royal household after 15 years.

Sky News has learnt that Ms Thirsk agreed the terms of her departure - including a payment worth tens of thousands of pounds - with the palace on Thursday.

An announcement is expected to be made to inform staff about her departure later, according to one royal insider.

Image: The settlement reached includes a payment worth tens of thousands of pounds

Ms Thirsk is also understood to be preparing to sign a separate contract that will see her continue as chief executive of Pitch@Palace Global Limited (PAGL), the privately owned international arm of Prince Andrew's project to back entrepreneurs.

That deal is expected to be signed on Friday.


Her exit from the palace will come less than two months after the duke's disastrous interview with the BBC, which deepened the crisis over his links to the convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.

It will also come at the end of another turbulent week for the royal family, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's announcement that they intend to "step back" as senior royals, sparking a fresh crisis at the palace.

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Sky News reported in November that, contrary to widespread media reports, the duke had not sacked Ms Thirsk but that she was expected to step down from her role in the new year.

A former banker, Ms Thirsk has worked at the palace for the duke since 2004, and became his private secretary in 2012.

She played a key role in shaping his work after he was forced to step down as the UK trade envoy in 2011.

His decision to give up the title of special representative for trade and investment followed earlier controversies involving Epstein, who was found dead in his prison cell last year.

While Ms Thirsk has been blamed for the Duke's decision to conduct the November interview, allies of the now-former royal aide praised her efforts to carve out a role for him that also benefited the UK economy.

Nevertheless, the length of Ms Thirsk's future tenure at PAGL is likely to remain an open question given uncertainty over the initiative's future.

Most of the board members of Pitch have resigned in the wake of Prince Andrew's Newsnight interview.

The initiative, which was ensnared by the fallout from his subsequent decision to step back from public duties, says it has helped nearly 1,000 start-ups since being set up in 2014.

Pitch@Palace also claims to have created almost 6,000 jobs since its inception and generated more than £1.1bn of new economic activity.

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A string of corporate partners, including Barclays and KPMG, said they would not renew their association with Pitch@Palace, although in some cases the companies had decided to end their involvement before the latest crisis erupted.

A review of Pitch's activities is expected to take place in the early part of this year.

One source said the duke would continue to employ a private secretary, although the identity of that person remains unclear.

A palace spokesman said on Friday that it "would never comment on individuals".

Ms Thirsk could not be reached for comment.