Prince Andrew denies sex with Epstein 'victim' — 'I was at Woking Pizza Express'The Duke of York, 59, has denied having sex with Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts, saying he is in the clear because he cannot sweat – and was at a pizza restaurant anyway
ByNicholas BieberNews Reporter
Prince Andrew has said he does not remember ever meeting Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victim Virginia Roberts – claiming he was actually at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking, Surrey on the night he was accused of having sex with her.
The Duke of York tonight appeared on BBC Newsnight in a dramatic world exclusive interview as he was questioned, for the first time, about his relationship with his convicted paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
The 59-year-old prince was grilled at Buckingham Palace by journalist Emily Maitlis over his friendship with the disgraced American financier, who killed himself in jail in August after being charged with sex trafficking.
The Queen’s son was largely quizzed over the claim that has dogged him and the Royal Family for months – that he had sex with Epstein’s alleged sex victim Virginia Roberts, now Virginia Giuffre, when she was 17.
Maitlis put the claim to Andrew in the interview, saying: “She says she met you in 2001, she dined with you, she danced with you, you bought her drinks, you were in Tramp Nightclub in London and she went on to have sex with you in a house in Belgravia belonging to Ghislaine Maxwell.”
The duke responded, “it didn’t happen”, insisting that he has “no recollection of ever meeting her” and reiterating his denial of the claim he had sex with her.
And he went further, insisting that on the night allegedly met and had sex with Miss Giuffre, he was actually taking his daughter Princess Beatrice, then 12, to a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking – 31 miles away.
He told Maitlis: “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 4.00 or 5.00 in the afternoon.
“And then because the Duchess (Sarah Ferguson) was away, we have a simple rule in the family that when one is away the other one is there.
“I was on terminal leave at the time from the Royal Navy so, therefore, I was at home.”
Maitlis then responded: “Why would you remember that so specifically? Why would you remember a Pizza Express birthday and being at home?”
Andrew replied: “Because going to Pizza Express in Woking is an unusual thing for me to do, a very unusual thing for me to do.
“I’ve never been... I’ve only been to Woking a couple of times and I remember it weirdly distinctly.
“As soon as somebody reminded me of it, I went ‘oh yes, I remember that’.
“But I have no recollection of ever meeting or being in the company or the presence.”
Andrew also addressed a claim by Miss Guiffre that he was sweating while he and her were dancing in the Tramp nightclub in London on the night in question – denying it because "he cannot sweat".
He explained how a condition from the Falklands War meant he was medically unable to perspire, despite Miss Guiffree claiming he was "sweating profusely".
“There’s a slight problem with the sweating because I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat or I didn’t at the time," he said.
“I didn’t sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenalin in the Falkland’s War when I was shot at and I simply... it was almost impossible for me to sweat.
“And it’s only because I have done a number of things in the recent past that I am starting to be able to do that again.
“So I’m afraid to say that there’s a medical condition that says that I didn’t do it."
The interview heard how Miss Guiffre, now 36 and a mum of three, has accused Andrew of having sex with her three times – with the first being on the night they allegedly met at Tramp nightclub.
During one part of the interview, Maitlis questioned Andrew on the infamous picture of Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of a young Miss Giuffre.
But Andrew said he had no recollection of the image, and addressed claims made by his friends that the picture was fake.
Asked to explain the picture, Andrew said: “I can’t because I don’t...I have no...again I have absolutely no memory of that photograph ever being taken.”
Maitlis then responded: “Do you recognise yourself in the photo?”. Andrew replied: “Yes, it’s pretty difficult not to recognise yourself.”
But when Maitlis addressed the suggestion by Andrew’s friends that the photo is fake, he responded: “I think it’s...from the investigations that we’ve done, you can’t prove whether or not that photograph is faked or not because it is a photograph of a photograph of a photograph.
“So it’s very difficult to be able to prove it but I don’t remember that photograph ever being taken.”
Maitlis then put to Andrew: “But it’s possible that it was you with your arm around her waist?”
Andrew responded: “That’s me but whether that’s my hand or whether that’s the position I...but I don’t...I have simply no recollection of the photograph ever being taken.”
During another part of the hour-long interview, Andrew admitted he had “let the side down” by staying friends with Epstein after his release from prison on child sex offences.
He said he continued to stay at Epstein’s home following his conviction because he was “too honourable”, and that on the last occasion he had attempted to break off their friendship.
Speaking about staying at Epstein’s home for the final time in December 2010 – two years after the tycoon was convicted of procuring an underage girl for prostitution – Andrew said: “I went with the sole purpose of saying because he had been convicted, it was inappropriate for us to be seen together.
“I had to talk to him. We had an opportunity to go for a walk in the park and that was the conversation coincidentally that was photographed. By mutual agreement we decided we’d part company.
“I left, I think it was the next day, and never had any contact with him from that day forward.”.
Talking about seeing Epstein even after he was convicted, Andrew added: “The problem was the fact that once he had been convicted I stayed with him.
“That’s the bit I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the Royal Family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that.”
Questioned on why he continued to stay at Epstein’s home after the conviction, Andrew said: "It was a convenient place to stay.
“I mean I've gone through this in my mind so many times.
"At the end of the day, with a benefit of all the hindsight that one can have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do.
"But at the time I felt it was the honourable and right thing to do and I admit fully that my judgement was probably coloured by my tendency to be too honourable but that's just the way it is."
Andrew said during one part of the interview that he never suspected Epstein was up to no good, insisting he never saw the tycoon do anything wrong nor “conduct himself in a manner unbecoming”.
Tonight’s interview has been widely described as highly unusual for a member of the Royal Family.
Only Princess Diana and Prince Charles, both speaking about their failed marriage, have done so, and both programmes were considered disastrous for the monarchy.
Andrew was said to have informed his mum the Queen about the interview in advance and was reportedly given her blessing.
Questions about Andrew’s with Epstein have resurfaced ever since the 66-year-old financier killed himself in his jail cell on August 10 after being charged with sex trafficking.
The prince has always denied any inappropriate behaviour or being aware of perverted acts by Epstein, who allegedly ran a sex ring of teenage girls.
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