WOKING — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on February 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was subsequently released under investigation.

The arrest followed revelations from emails related to Jeffrey Epstein and appeared to be connected to Mountbatten-Windsor's conduct as a UK trade envoy. These developments relate to longstanding allegations made by Virginia Giuffre concerning events on March 10, 2001, and Mountbatten-Windsor's alibi for that day.

On March 10, 2001, Giuffre stated she and Mountbatten-Windsor partied at Tramp nightclub in London. Giuffre also claimed they went to Ghislaine Maxwell's Belgravia house after the nightclub, where she said Mountbatten-Windsor had sex with her. Giuffre was 17 years old on that date.

Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing. In a 2019 Newsnight interview, he discussed his whereabouts on the date Giuffre specified. "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 four or five in the afternoon," Mountbatten-Windsor said. He added: "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."

Pizza Express conducted an internal inquiry into Mountbatten-Windsor's claimed visit to its Woking branch. Senior management initiated the investigation, citing public interest in testing his alibi. The inquiry found no definitive evidence that he had been to the restaurant, nor that he had not. BBC Newsnight's own research also found no evidence of anyone seeing Mountbatten-Windsor at the Woking Pizza Express on March 10, 2001.

The BBC sent a freedom of information request to the Metropolitan Police, asking if any royal protection officers had accompanied Mountbatten-Windsor on that date. Scotland Yard refused the request, stating it could "neither confirm nor deny" holding such information due to "national security" and other considerations. The Metropolitan Police 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." The Metropolitan Police had previously confirmed it provided protection to Mountbatten-Windsor. In February, the Metropolitan Police released a statement indicating they were identifying and contacting former and serving protection officers, asking them to consider whether they had information related to criminal allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor.

Why It Matters

The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor marks a development in the ongoing allegations against him. His alibi has been a point of contention since 2001 when Virginia Giuffre first made her claims. The internal inquiry by Pizza Express and the BBC's investigations show the challenges in corroborating events from over two decades ago. The Metropolitan Police's refusal to release information regarding royal protection officers, citing national security, complicates efforts to clarify the events.