In a message posted on his Twitter account yesterday, Andrew, the Duke of York, said there was "no truth" in some press reports claiming a split within Britain's royal family over duties for his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, the Queen's granddaughters.
"There is no truth to the story that there could be a split between The Prince of Wales and I over my daughters' participation as members of the royal family and any continued speculation is pointless," Andrew said.
"As a father, my wish for my daughters is for them to be modern, working, young women, who happen to be members of the Royal Family, and I am delighted to see them building their careers," the 56-year-old Duke said.
"When they do support the Royal Family in its work this is very much appreciated by my family and, most importantly, by those organisations and to those for whom their participation makes such a difference to their lives," he added.
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"It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that MsMarkleshould be subjected to such a storm. He knows commentators will say this is 'the price she has to pay' and that 'this is all part of the game'. He strongly disagrees. This is not a game - it is her life and his," Prince Harry's office had said in a statement on his behalf last month.
It also came shortly after the princesses' mother, the Duchess of York, asked the media to "stop bullying the York family".
The duchess and the two princesses visited a specialist teen cancer unit in central London to mark the occasion, meeting young people with the disease.
"Let's focus more on this and less on tittle-tattle gossip," said the duchess, who was divorced from Prince Andrew in 1996.