We asked Pizza Express if Prince Andrew held a birthday party for his daughter in its Woking branch and this is what firm said

One of the more bizarre parts of the Duke of York's now famous car crash interview for BBC Newsnight was when he claimed he took his daughter for a birthday party at a Pizza Express in Surrey.

It was why, he said, he could not possibly have had sex with Virginia Roberts, then 17, at the Belgravia home of Ghislaine Maxwell.

During the interview, when he also said he had a condition that meant he could not sweat, interviewer EmilyMaitlis said: "July of this year, Epstein was arrested on charges of sex trafficking and abusing dozens of underage girls. One of the Epstein's accusers, Virginia Roberts has made allegations against you. She says she met you in 2001, she says she dined with you, danced with you at Tramp Nightclub in London. She went on to have sex with you in a house in Belgravia belonging to Ghislaine Maxwell, your friend. Your response?"

Prince Andrew said: "I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever." He denies it a few more times, saying, "No, I've no recollection of ever meeting her, I'm almost, in fact I'm convinced that I was never in Tramps with her.

"No, that couldn't have happened because the date that's being suggested I was at home with the children," he responds. When she follows up to ask if it was a "memorable night" that he was at home with his daughters, Andrew says, "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 or 5pm in the afternoon. And then because the duchess 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 said: "Why would you remember that so specifically? Why would you remember a Pizza Express birthday and being at home?" The Duke of York replies, "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."

The Pizza Express alibi was widely ridiculed following the broadcast.

The Daily Mail quoted what it described as an "impeccable source" close to Princess Beatrice who said she had "absolutely no recollection" of this Pizza Express party.

The Mail also tracked down the parents of one of Beatrice's schoolmate who hosted a party which she said Beatrice did attend, but that there were no photos and they could not recall specific details.

She said: "We had made a deliberate decision from the outset not to take photographs of, or around, Bea as it seemed to be permanently open season among some parents who indulged in this sport," the parents said.

"The party was almost 20 years ago. We were living in Woking and had two daughters at prep school there. Not only were their birthdays celebrated in Pizza Express but almost every beginning of term, end of term and half-term.

"Pizza Express was just the place they liked to go for their treats.

"Bea was one of our daughter's friends at school. There were no special arrangements or formalities regarding her parents, they were frequently around the school and the girls' social lives. They were informal and unobtrusive."

It's the view of Essex News and Investigations that if Prince Andrew attended a Pizza Express, at least some of the staff would have noticed, and it would have been recorded as an event in the branche's history and perhaps even photographed.

So we asked the company: "I have not found any Pizza Express statement published about the claim by Prince Andrew to have visited the Woking branch on March 10 2001.

"Can you please confirm if the Woking branch was in the same location as it is today on that date?

"Does Pizza Express have any record of Prince Andrew visiting the Woking branch on that or any other date? It is the sort of visit that is likely to be well recollected by staff from the time and even recorded in the company's archive with possible photographs or at least a diary entry that this took place.

"Do you know if anyone who was working there at the time is still employed by Pizza Express?"

A Pizza Express spokesperson said: "PizzaExpress Woking has been open since 1996 and remains in its same location. As per normal business practice, CCTV is only retained for a set period of time. We have no further comment on this.”

Essex News and Investigations comment

Pizza Express may be in a position to resolve whether Prince Andrew was at the restaurant or not, but has taken the fifth. At no point did we ask about CCTV, but it dodged the issue of photographs or any record of the alleged event, by introducing this theme.