Prince Andrew looked remarkably relaxed today as he was pictured for the first time since he was effectively sacked by the Queen.

The Duke of York has now suspended work with most of his charities, organisations and military units because of the fallout from his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

He will, however, continue to work on the entrepreneurship initiative Pitch@Palace because it is a private venture, Buckingham Palace said this morning.

The royal was pictured behind the wheel on Thursday morning driving out of his home, Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park.

Dressed in a suit and tie, he smiled and waved to photographers as he left the estate in Berkshire.

Last night Prince Andrew announced he would step back from public duties for the ‘foreseeable future’ in an unprecedented move for a royal in modern times.

The bombshell declaration came after mounting pressure following his ‘car crash’ interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Mr Epstein.

His team had hoped the BBC interview would convince the general public of his innocence and honesty.

However millions were left aghast as the Duke attempted to explain his relationship and why he stayed with the late Epstein after his release from prison on sex offence charges.

In particular, he was roundly criticised for failing to show any remorse for Epstein’s dozens of young female victims.

Today US lawyers acting for some of the victims said they wanted to speak to Prince Andrew about his friendship.

Lisa Bloom said that as an attorney she had ‘the right’ to seek a statement from individuals she deemed to have ‘relevant information.’

Businesses and other organisations have also announced they are terminating or reviewing their association with the royal after days of public outcry.

On Wednesday night, the Queen’s second son, 59, quit royal duties saying the issue was becoming a ‘major distraction.’

Royal sources said he was forced to act after the monarch and Prince Charles personally intervened.

The Queen is said to have summoned Prince Andrew to Buckingham Palace yesterday and demanded he step down from public duties.

He was told he could write his own statement in an attempt to allow him to bow out gracefully.

A source told the Daily Mail: ‘When the Queen and the Prince of Wales stand firm together they are a pretty formidable combination in terms of getting things done.’

The wider Royal Family were informed and a statement put out just before 6pm after days of trying to insist it was business as normal.

In the past few days, more than 20 companies and charities, including Barclays, KPMG and the English National Ballet, have distanced themselves from the Prince.

Backers for his key public initiative’s such as the entrepreneurs scheme, Pitch@Palace, began to openly withdraw their support.

This morning, Buckingham Palace said Prince Andrew wanted to continue working there but would do so privately without their support.

A spokeswoman said: ‘He will continue to work on Pitch but will look at how to do that outside and entirely separate from the palace.’

It is unclear if he still plans to travel to Bahrain on Saturday for a Pitch event after he cancelled a trip to South Yorkshire to visit flood affected towns.

There is no time period specified for the Prince to be out of the limelight for.

He is likely to attend events such as the Christmas Day service, Trooping The Colour and Remembrance Sunday.

Sources said his decision is unlikely to affects his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who undertake occasional royal duties.

The Prince is not publicly-funded and receives an undisclosed stipend from the Queen’s Privy Purse, believed to be in the region of £250,000.

The taxpayer had been funding his travel while on royal duties.

There are also likely to be redundancies in his private office following what has been described as a ‘period of transition’.

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