Inquiry into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's Pizza Express Visit
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles, styles, and honours by King Charles last year.
night has learned that Pizza Express conducted an internal inquiry into whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had visited its Woking restaurant.
The former prince stated in his 2019 Newsnight interview that he had been at the Surrey branch on the day he was alleged to have had sexual contact with Virginia Giuffre, one of the late Jeffrey Epstein's victims.
night discovered that the pizza chain investigated the claim and found no evidence confirming or disproving his presence there. Additionally, research found no record of anyone seeing him at the restaurant on the night in 2001.
Mountbatten-Windsor did not respond to requests for comment but has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Newsnight revisited the 2019 interview following the release of the Epstein files and Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office by Thames Valley Police. He was later released under investigation.
Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor three times, including when she was 17 years old.
One incident was alleged to have occurred on 10 March 2001, when Giuffre claimed she dined with him, danced with him at a nightclub, and then had sex with him at the house of Ghislaine Maxwell, a friend of the then-prince, in Belgravia, central London.
In his Newsnight interview, Mountbatten-Windsor said he had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to a party at a Pizza Express in Woking at "4pm or 5pm in the afternoon" on that day before spending the night at home.
The majority of the interview was broadcast, though some material was excluded due to time constraints.
Details of the 2019 Interview and Pizza Express Mention
The former prince spoke for the first time about his links to Jeffrey Epstein in an interview with night's Emily Maitlis in 2019.
This included Mountbatten-Windsor discussing Pizza Express in more detail, including a claim that his staff had reviewed a diary to verify information.
"I'd taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking," he said in the interview.
"This has all been worked out by my staff, who've looked at the diary and everything else.
"The duchess [Sarah Ferguson] was away, I think, United States somewhere. And we had a very simple rule: at that stage, the children had one or other of us for all, most of the, well, as often as we could manage.
"So if one of us was out, the other one was in. And then occasionally they would have both of us and on this particular occasion, she was away and I was at home."
Mountbatten-Windsor's mention of Pizza Express in the interview attracted worldwide media attention in 2019, with some newspapers describing it as an "alibi."
Pizza Express Investigation into the Claim
Newsnight has been informed that in 2019, Pizza Express senior management examined the plausibility of Mountbatten-Windsor's claim, considering it a matter of public interest.
The company conducted an internal inquiry, searching for records from that period, none of which were found, and attempted to contact former staff and local management.
The manager of the Woking branch in 2001 had left the company and was unavailable for comment.
Following the inquiry, the chain concluded there was no evidence to confirm or deny Mountbatten-Windsor's presence at the restaurant.
Newsnight's extensive inquiries found no record of any customer or staff member having seen him at the Woking Pizza Express.
Metropolitan Police and Freedom of Information Request
One approach taken was submitting a Freedom of Information request to the Metropolitan Police, asking whether royal protection officers accompanied Mountbatten-Windsor to the Woking branch 25 years ago.
The Metropolitan Police responded that it could "neither confirm nor deny" holding this information, citing "national security" and other 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," the Met stated.
This response contrasts with previous statements from Scotland Yard referencing Mountbatten-Windsor's close protection officers, including a press statement issued in February.
The Met's reply has been criticized by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.
"Of course the police are rightly very careful about giving any information about who they give special protection to," he told the BBC.
"I completely understand that and it's right. But too often we see these types of 'neither confirm nor deny' answers where there really isn't a legitimate security reason – and I think that's what's happening here."
He called for an "exception" to be made by the force to reveal the information.
"I really can't see how revealing that Andrew had police protection 25 years ago would play into the hands of terrorists as the Met claims," he added.
Background and Current Status
Virginia Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025 at age 41.
Mountbatten-Windsor's military titles and royal patronages were removed by the late Queen in 2022, and he was stripped of his "prince" title last year. He also vacated his Windsor residence, Royal Lodge, amid pressure on the Royal Family due to his connections to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
He has consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
- Watch: How Andrew's BBC interview compares to what Epstein emails tell us now
- Why was Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested and what happens next?
- Photos released in Epstein files appear to show Andrew on all fours over female
