Pizza Express held an internal inquiry into Prince Andrew's claim that he was in its Woking branch on the day he was alleged to have had sex with one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims, it has emerged. The disgraced former duke claimed in a BBC Newsnight interview in 2019 that he could not have been at Ghislaine Maxwell's London home when a photo of him and Virginia Giuffre was allegedly taken, as he was in Pizza Express.
Internal Probe Launched
According to BBC Newsnight, the pizza chain investigated the claim and found no evidence that he had, or had not, been there. Senior management looked into the plausibility of his claim because they believed it was a matter of public interest. Bosses held an internal probe, including looking for records from that time period and attempting to contact past members of staff and local management.
No records could be found, and the manager of the Woking branch in 2001 had since left the business, so could not be spoken to. It was concluded there was no evidence to suggest Prince Andrew was telling the truth and nothing to suggest he was not.
Met Police Response
A Freedom of Information request to the Metropolitan Police, sent by the BBC, asked if any royal protection officers accompanied the former prince to the Woking branch 25 years ago. In response, the force said it could 'neither confirm nor deny' whether it holds this information due to 'national security' among other reasons.
The Met stated: '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.' Scotland Yard previously referred to Prince Andrew's close protection officers in February when it said the Met was 'identifying and contacting former and serving officers who may have worked closely' with him 'in a protection capacity'.
Political Reaction
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey commented: '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. 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.'
Maxwell's Allegations
Ghislaine Maxwell alleged the infamous photo of Prince Andrew with his arm around his accuser Virginia Giuffre is real in a 2015 email released as part of the Epstein files earlier this year. She claimed it was a 'fact' that she had introduced the disgraced ex-prince to Virginia, then 17, and the photo was taken that night.
Maxwell wrote: 'In 2001 I was in London when (redacted) met a number of friends of mine including Prince Andrew. A photograph was taken as I imagine she wanted to show... friends and family. I am stating for the record as fact. Prince Andrew came to my house to visit me - (redacted) was in the house and they did meet.'
Prince Andrew has strenuously denied any wrongdoing. Buckingham Palace was unable to comment.
