It was the alibi that became one of the most talked-about moments in recent royal history — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor telling the BBC's Emily Maitlis in 2019 that he couldn't possibly have slept with a teenage victim of Jeffrey Epstein because he had spent the afternoon at a Pizza Express in Woking. Now, BBC Newsnight has revealed that the restaurant chain conducted its own internal inquiry into that very claim — and came up empty-handed.

According to sources who spoke to the BBC, senior management at Pizza Express launched the investigation because they felt it was in the public interest to test the alibi offered by the former Duke of York. After speaking to past employees and searching its records, the chain concluded it could find no evidence that Mountbatten-Windsor had been at the Woking branch on 10 March 2001 — but crucially, no evidence to definitively say he had not been there either. The former branch manager, who might have shed further light on the matter, has since left the company and could not be contacted.

The Alibi That Defined a Scandal

Virginia Giuffre, a victim of the late child sex offender Epstein, alleged that she and Mountbatten-Windsor had partied at Tramp nightclub in London on 10 March 2001, when she was 17 years old, before returning to the Belgravia home of Ghislaine Maxwell. She claimed he then had sex with her. Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

A woman with a blonde bob wearing a grey military-style jacket and black trousers walks alongside an older man in a navy suit and light blue tie across a red carpet in an ornate, gilded room.
BBC Newsnight journalist Emily Maitlis walks with Prince Andrew, Duke of York, at Buckingham Palace ahead of their landmark 2019 interview. The sit-down conversation — in which Andrew addressed his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — became one of the most scrutinised royal interviews in recent history, ultimately leading to Andrew stepping back from royal duties.

During his now-infamous Newsnight interview six years ago, Mountbatten-Windsor offered the Pizza Express visit as part of his rebuttal, saying he had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to a birthday party at the Woking branch that afternoon before heading home. He also told the interviewer he had been on terminal leave from the Royal Navy at the time.

"On that particular day that we now understand is the date which is the 10th of March, I was at home, I was with the children and I'd taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking for a party at I suppose sort of four or five in the afternoon."

Newsnight's extensive research found no record of anyone who could place him at the restaurant that evening. Princess Beatrice herself previously said she has "absolutely no recollection" of the birthday party her father claimed to have attended. A leaked family diary entry, first reported by the Daily Mail, showed Mountbatten-Windsor had a home manicure booked in the afternoon of the same day — before he said he dropped his then 12-year-old daughter at the restaurant.

Scotland Yard's Refusal to Clarify

In an attempt to corroborate the alibi, Newsnight submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Metropolitan Police asking whether any royal protection officers had accompanied Mountbatten-Windsor to Woking that day — as he had claimed. Scotland Yard refused to answer, citing national security among its reasons.

"Confirming or denying that information is held would reveal whether protection had been afforded to a specific individual other than the King and the prime minister."

That response drew swift criticism from Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who told the BBC he struggled to see how revealing whether Andrew had police protection 25 years ago could pose any genuine security risk.

Top: Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell (2001). Bottom: Prince Andrew with Jeffrey Epstein in Central Park (2010).
Resurfaced photos show Prince Andrew pictured with Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001 (top), and walking with Jeffrey Epstein in New York's Central Park in 2010 (bottom), as scrutiny over his ties to the convicted sex offender continues.

He called on the Met to make an exception and release the information.

Arrest and the Epstein Files

Newsnight's reinvestigation of the 2019 interview has been prompted in part by Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest in February this year — reportedly on his 66th birthday — on suspicion of misconduct in public office by Thames Valley Police. He was held in custody for 11 hours before being released under investigation. The arrest came shortly after the US Justice Department released a batch of Epstein-related files. Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any wrongdoing throughout.

Andrew Mountbatten photographed through a car window, seated in the back of a vehicle with red-eye flash effect visible.

Following the arrest, King Charles issued a statement saying the law must take its course and that the appropriate authorities had the Royal Family's "full and wholehearted support and co-operation". The Palace had also previously announced a formal process to remove Mountbatten-Windsor's styles, titles and honours.

Pizza Express was contacted for comment. For the latest developments in the Royal Family, follow our rolling coverage.