Now Prince Andrew tries to trademark the Palace...

THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge raised eyebrows a few years ago when they secretly set up firms to protect their ‘brand’ and intellectual property rights.

Now Prince Andrew wants to trademark his own project.

He has applied to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to register the name Pitch@Palace, the Dragons’ Den-type initiative he set up to help budding entrepreneurs.

If successful, his move would enable him to sell officially endorsed products and take action against anyone selling items that could harm the scheme’s image.

The application covers a wide range of products and services, from stationery and teaching materials to business networking services and the ‘arranging of conferences relating to business’.

Andrew has also set up a limited company called Pitch@Palace Global. With Buckingham Palace as its registered address at Companies House, the business’s directors include the Prince’s private secretary, Amanda Thirsk.

Trademarks are a sensitive subject for the Royal Family. The memorial fund set up in honour of the Princess of Wales caused a scandal when it authorised the use of Diana’s signature on tubs of margarine.

Trustees also went to court to stop the manufacture of Diana dolls, a battle they lost at a cost of almost £15 million.

Andrew established Pitch@Palace following his decision to step down as the UK’s special trade representative in 2011 after being linked to a billionaire sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

His twice-yearly event, which links British technology firms with investors, has helped raise funds for hundreds of start-ups since 2014 and seen several notable successes.

He has taken the scheme overseas, most recently to China, where he held a ‘boot camp’ for aspiring businesses in the Communist state.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirms: ‘Pitch@Palace has applied to register a trademark at the IPO, to protect this brand name.’