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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles, styles and honours by King Charles past year
ByVictoria DerbyshireBBC Newsnight and Ewan Somerville
Pizza Express held an interior enquiry into whether Andrew Mountbatten Windsor had visited its edifice successful Woking, BBC Newsnight has learnt.
The erstwhile prince claimed successful his infamous 2019 Newsnight interrogation that helium had been astatine the subdivision successful Surrey connected the time helium was alleged to person slept with Virginia Giuffre, 1 of precocious enactment offender Jeffrey Epstein's victims.
BBC Newsnight has present discovered the pizza concatenation investigated the assertion and recovered nary grounds that helium had - oregon had not - been there. Our probe has besides recovered nary grounds of anyone seeing him determination connected the nighttime successful 2001.
Mountbatten-Windsor did not respond to a petition for remark but helium has strenuously denied immoderate wrongdoing.
Newsnight has revisited the 2019 interrogation successful airy of the Epstein files - and Mountbatten-Windsor's apprehension successful February connected suspicion of misconduct successful nationalist bureau by Thames Valley Police. He was subsequently released nether investigation.
Giuffre alleged she was forced to person enactment with Mountbatten-Windsor 3 times, including erstwhile she was aged 17.
One of these was alleged to person taken spot connected 10 March 2001, erstwhile Giuffre said she dined with him, danced with him astatine a nightclub and went connected to person enactment with him astatine the location of Ghislaine Maxwell, a person of the then-prince, successful Belgravia, cardinal London.
In his Newsnight interview, Mountbatten-Windsor said helium had alternatively taken his girl Princess Beatrice to a party astatine a Pizza Express successful Woking astatine "4pm oregon 5pm successful the afternoon" connected that time earlier spending the nighttime astatine home.
The immense bulk of the interrogation was broadcast, but a tiny magnitude of worldly was not included due to the fact that of clip constraints.
The erstwhile prince spoke for the archetypal clip astir his links to Jeffrey Epstein successful an interrogation with BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis successful 2019
This included Mountbatten-Windsor talking successful much item astir Pizza Express, including a assertion that his unit had looked astatine a diary to find retired much information.
"I'd taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express successful Woking," helium said successful the interview.
"This has each been worked retired by my staff, who've looked astatine the diary and everything else.
"The duchess [Sarah Ferguson] was away, I think, United States somewhere. And we had a precise elemental rule: astatine that stage, the children had 1 oregon different of america for all, astir of the, well, arsenic often arsenic we could manage.
"So if 1 of america was out, the different 1 was in. And past occasionally they would person some of america and connected this peculiar occasion, she was distant and I was astatine home."
Mountbatten-Windsor's notation of Pizza Express successful the interrogation made headlines worldwide successful 2019, with immoderate newspapers labelling it an "alibi".
Pizza Express searched for records of visit
Newsnight has present been told that successful 2019, the elder absorption squad of Pizza Express looked into the plausibility of Mountbatten-Windsor's assertion due to the fact that they believed it was a substance of nationalist interest.
Bosses held an interior enquiry that progressive looking for records from that clip play - nary of which could beryllium recovered - and trying to speech to past members of unit and section management.
The manager of the Woking subdivision successful 2001 had since near the concern truthful could not beryllium spoken to, it is understood.
Following its interior inquiry, the concatenation concluded it had recovered nary grounds to suggest Mountbatten-Windsor had visited and was telling the information - and besides thing to suggest helium was not.
Newsnight has made extended inquiries to spot if determination is immoderate grounds of a lawsuit oregon unit subordinate having seen him astatine the Pizza Express restaurant, but has recovered nary grounds of him being there.
Image source, PA Wire/PA Images
The BBC has learnt that an interior enquiry by Pizza Express recovered nary grounds Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor visited its Woking subdivision arsenic helium claimed
Calls for Met transparency
One of the routes we tried was submitting a state of accusation petition to the Metropolitan Police, asking if immoderate royal extortion officers accompanied the erstwhile prince to the Woking subdivision 25 years ago.
In response, the unit said it could "neither corroborate nor deny" whether it holds this information, citing "national security" among different reasons.
"Confirming oregon denying that accusation is held would uncover whether extortion had been afforded to a circumstantial idiosyncratic different than the King and the premier minister," the Met said successful reply to us.
This is contempt Scotland Yard antecedently referring to Mountbatten-Windsor's adjacent extortion officers, including successful a press connection issued successful February.
The Met's effect has drawn disapproval from Liberal Democrat person Sir Ed Davey.
"Of people the constabulary are rightly precise cautious astir giving immoderate accusation astir who they springiness peculiar extortion too," helium told the BBC.
"I wholly recognize that and it's right. But excessively often we spot these types of 'neither corroborate nor deny' answers wherever determination truly isn't a morganatic information crushed – and I deliberation that's what's happening here."
He called for an "exception" to beryllium made by the unit to uncover the information.
"I truly can't spot however revealing that Andrew had constabulary extortion 25 years agone would play into the hands of terrorists arsenic the Met claims," helium added.
Giuffre died by termination in April 2025 aged 41.
Mountbatten-Windsor's subject titles and royal patronages were removed by the precocious Queen successful 2022 and helium was stripped of his "prince" rubric past year. He besides near his Windsor mansion, Royal Lodge, amid unit connected the Royal Family implicit his links to paedophile financier Epstein.
He has consistently and strenuously denied immoderate wrongdoing.
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