Pizza Express conducted an internal investigation to determine whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor visited its Woking branch on March 10, 2001, the date he cited in a 2019 BBC Newsnight interview as an alibi in response to allegations made by Virginia Giuffre. In that interview, the former royal stated that he took his daughter, Princess Beatrice, to the restaurant on that day, which he said disproved claims that he was present at the Tramp nightclub in London with Giuffre. Giuffre, who died in April 2025, had alleged that she was trafficked by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and accused Mountbatten-Windsor of abusing her when she was 17.

Senior management at Pizza Express reviewed records from that period and attempted to contact former staff, including the then-branch manager, but were unable to find any conclusive evidence confirming or disproving Mountbatten-Windsor’s presence at the Woking restaurant. The investigation found no information to either support or contradict his claim. The branch manager responsible at the time had left the company, and archival records were insufficient to verify the visit.

Mountbatten-Windsor denied any wrongdoing and has maintained his version of events since the allegations became public. During the 2019 interview, he said that he was on terminal leave from the Royal Navy and following a family rule, was at home caring for his children while the duchess was away. He said the visit to Pizza Express took place in the afternoon as part of a party with his daughter.

Following the interview, Pizza Express reported a surge of fake customer reviews online, leading to wider public attention on the claim. Newsnight also submitted a Freedom of Information inquiry to the Metropolitan Police seeking information about whether royal protection officers accompanied Mountbatten-Windsor on that date, but the police neither confirmed nor denied holding such details.

In February 2026, Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office in relation to his role as a trade envoy and was subsequently released under investigation. He has consistently denied any illegal or improper conduct.

The case remains a subject of public and legal scrutiny, with the Pizza Express investigation reflecting the difficulties of verifying specific alibis from events over two decades ago amid ongoing allegations linked to the Epstein scandal. Both Pizza Express and Mountbatten-Windsor have been approached for comment but have not issued further statements.