Britain's Prince Andrew has claimed that he was in a pizza restaurant on the night he is accused of having sex with a 17-year-old girl.
He also said he does not regret his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison earlier this year.
In an interview on the BBC's Newsnight programme last night, the royal denied allegations from Virginia Roberts-Giuffre who said she met him at a nightclub in London before they slept together in 2001.
The Duke of York said on the day on which the claims are alleged to have occurred, he had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to Pizza Express at 4pm or 5pm in the afternoon.
Ms Roberts-Giuffre has claimed they went on to have sex on two other occasions which he denies.
“On the date that’s being suggested I was at home with the children… I’d taken Beatrice to Pizza Express in Woking.”
Prince Andrew tells @maitlis he was elsewhere the night it has been claimed he had his photo taken with a woman who says they had sex
#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/XoDEALx5MJ— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) November 16, 2019
He was also asked about a photo of him and Ms Roberts-Giuffre, where he is pictured with his arm around her waist.
The photo was allegedly taken by Epstein at the house of the prince's friend, Ghislaine Maxwell, in London in March 2001.
He said: "Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don't recollect that photograph ever being taken."
Prince Andrew also denied knowing anything about Epstein's crimes against underage girls prior to his conviction.
He has been criticised for staying in Epstein's mansion in New York in 2010 after Epstein's release from jail.
He said: "It was a convenient place to stay... 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."
"It was definitely the wrong thing to do. But at the time I felt it was the honourable and right thing to do."
The Duke of York speaks to @maitlis about his links to Jeffrey Epstein and his decision to stay with him
MORE: https://t.co/c2rYXXMwcu#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/iajFWI2r1H— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) November 16, 2019
The interview has been labelled as "disastrous" and "excruciating" following its airing last night.
Piers Morgan labelled it as "excruciating" while Rose McGowan, the actress who became one of the most vocal accusers of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, said watching the interview made her feel "nauseous".
Ms Roberts-Giuffre was also active on Twitter as the programme aired, retweeting a number of negative reactions, including one that accused the duke of trying to "undermine his accuser".
However, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson said that she was "deeply supportive of this giant of a principled man".
Additional reporting by IRN
