Prince Andrew is facing a media storm over his friendship with a convicted sex offender. Under mounting pressure to step down as UK trade envoy, how can the Prince rebuild his reputation? We ask a crisis PR expert...

The key to effective crisis management is quickly seizing control and setting the communication agenda, rather than being dictated to by events.  Unfortunately for Prince Andrew, in this case the crisis appears to be managing him rather than the other way around.

His cause is not helped by the mixed messages which seem to be emerging from Downing Street: “sources” say that he can’t afford another mistake, whereas the official line from David Cameron is that there is no review of his post and Mr Cameron has "full confidence" in him.  Crises breed on conflict and mixed messages - they prolong a crisis which would otherwise run its course.

An additional challenge for Prince Andrew is that being a member of the royal family makes it harder for him to publicly state his position compared with a more typical businessperson.  Taking personal responsibility for your reputation by communicating a clear message to stakeholders is another golden rule of crisis communication: the fact that Prince Andrew is trusting this task to third parties leaves him less able to exert personal control over his situation.

Given that a crisis often leaves the media spotlight when a bigger issue emerges and takes its place, his best hope right now may be that his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson (no stranger to media crises herself) re-enters the media spotlight in the near future.

Jonathan Hemus is the founder and director of Insignia, which provides communications advice to leading companies and brands. He blogs on crisis management for The Drum.