PRINCE Andrew’s revelation of having dined at Pizza Express in Woking 18 years ago during his bombshell interview last night led to a flurry of fake reviews online.
In his extraordinary interview the Duke claimed he had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to the restaurant chain on the night he is accused of sleeping with Virginia Roberts, a “sex slave” of his paedophile pal Jeffrey Epstein.
His claim he was in a branch of Pizza Express on March 10 2001 led to a spate of tongue-in-cheek reviews.
One said: “Not my local branch but I had a great alibi, sorry, meal with my kids here in March. I loved the dough balls and the pollo pesto, great service as always. Can always rely on Pizza Express for a royally good time.”
Another wrote: “I very much enjoyed my visit here…right down to the last slice. I’ve stayed at many a mansion of billionaires and been to some amazing night clubs, but I can’t remember anything about them, only my visit to Pizza Express in Woking. So that tells you how much I enjoyed eating there. Unforgettable that’s what you are.”
One said: “I can remember every time I have been here and the exact date as well.”
Meanwhile TV presenter Giles Coren tweeted: “Ask him what he ordered. If he says ‘a sloppy Giuseppe’ you’ve got him. Because they didn’t introduce that till 2006.”
Roberts has claimed she met Andrew at London club Tramp – where he “sweated profusely” – before sleeping with him in 2001.
But the Duke claimed that was factually wrong as he had a medical condition at the time which meant he did not sweat.
Poking fun at that, one reviewer wrote: “Love this place. I had a cracking pizza here in 2001. I remember it was 2001 because it was very strange the guy next to me had an American Hot pizza with extra chillies…not a drop of sweat came off him. Very odd.”
Another joked: “I definitely came here around 4-5pm on March 10 2001. Ate a whole Sloppy Giuseppe without breaking a sweat. Andy.”
One wrote: “It has been 18 years since I visited but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sweating profusely. So were all the other customers. It was hot. The pizza was spicy. The atmosphere was electric. But one man, one mysterious man was ice cool, sweat free. I’ll never forget it. He was like a Prince amongst men.”
The Duke was quizzed by Emily Maitlis in Buckingham Palace’s south drawing room on Thursday.
His attempt to defend his reputation was branded “disastrous” as he admitted he had no regrets about his friendship with the convicted paedophile.
When asked by Maitlis if he regretted the “whole friendship with Epstein”, the duke replied: “Now, still not and the reason being is that the people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful.”
Epstein, 66, was found hanged in jail in August while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Public relations and crisis consultant Mark Borkowski said: “I have never seen anything so disastrous. For any students of PR that is how not to do it.
“It was like watching a man in quick sand and unfortunately, I don’t think anyone would have thrown him a line to get him out.”
