Leading businesses and charities are deserting Prince Andrew over the Epstein scandal as the future of his main charitable project he repeatedly mentioned in his BBC car crash interview is in jeopardy today.

On another hugely damaging day for the Duke of York, accountancy firm KPMG said it was protecting its reputation by ending its £100,000 a year sponsorship of his business start-up project: Pitch@Palace.

Insurance giant Aon asked for its name be removed from the scheme's website and drugs maker Astrazeneca said it was reviewing its relationship.

Children's charities and schools linked to Prince Andrew are also in disarray today as they distanced themselves from the under-fire royal.

Prince Andrew (left, during a 2015 Pitch@Palace meeting and, right, in Phuket with supermodel Normandie White) is facing a backlash over his Epstein interview

Prince Andrew (pictured during his interview with Emily Maitlis on the BBC's Newsnight) is facing a furious backlash over his relationship with Epstein

The Duke of York, pictured at a Pall Mall party alongside model Sally Huxley, has denied that he likes to party

Prince who doesn't like to 'party' In his BBC interview, Prince Andrew claimed he had ‘never really partied’ – and is averse to public displays of affection – as he rebutted allegations he had sex with Virginia Roberts. But a number of images have resurfaced, showing him letting his hair down at wild parties and frolicking with several glamorous young women. On BBC’s Newsnight special, the Duke of York insisted that he had no idea why he had been dubbed the ‘party prince’. He said: ‘I don’t know why I’ve collected that title because I don’t … I never have really partied.’ He added: ‘I was single for quite a long time in the early 80s but after I got married I was very happy and I’ve never really felt the need to go and party and certainly going to Jeffrey [Epstein]’s was not about partying, absolutely not.’ He also hinted that the controversial 2001 photograph of him holding 17-year-old Miss Roberts around the waist might be fake as he was not ‘one to hug’. He said: ‘I’m terribly sorry but if I, as a member of the Royal Family, and I have a photograph taken and I take very, very few photographs, I am not one to, as it were, hug and public displays of affection are not something that I do.’ But footage and snaps of the dishevelled prince at parties, some without his suit jacket and with his shirt untucked, would suggest otherwise. The duke can be seen at several soirees in the late 2000s on the French Riviera partying with women. He was pictured in July 2007 at a party in Saint-Tropez embracing a number of women including socialite Chris Von Aspen, who he holds by the waist. Another snap shows him holding the back of her head with his fingers in her blonde hair. At a different party on the same trip he is seen holding Canadian socialite Pascale Bourbeau with one hand on her lower back while she puts her arm around his neck. Other images from 2001 show him surrounded by topless women in bikinis on a yacht while on holiday in Phuket, Thailand, with late billionaire friend and convicted paedophile Epstein. Another was taken at a Halloween event in New York in 2000 where he chatted to supermodel Heidi Klum. Andrew was also snapped beside scantily clad model Sally Huxley, 26, at a Chinese New Year party in London hosted by socialites Andy and Patti Wong at The Reform Club in Pall Mall in 2002. And new footage from July 2008 shows him attending a bash hosted by wine tycoon Claude Ott where he chats closely to several women. Newspaper clippings from the earlier 2000s also confirm that the ‘Playboy Prince’ frequented London’s exclusive clubs, and was once ‘guest of honour’ at Tramp nightclub, where Miss Roberts alleges he took her before the 2001 picture was taken. Advertisement

A string of major companies and charities are also examining their links with Andrew after his extraordinary TV interview on Saturday.

The Outward Bound Trust, which has the prince's daughter Beatrice as a trustee, is holding a special meeting this week to discuss the issue.

Children North East and The Children's Foundation, both charities Andrew lists on his official website, refused to tell MailOnline if he will keep his official role supporting them in light of the Epstein scandal.

The Council of British International Schools [COBIS] praised the duke's work with them since 2011 but also refused to say if their link with the prince remains today.

Andrew appeared on BBC Newsnight to answer questions about his relationship with Epstein, a paedophile billionaire who killed himself in jail.

The interview went down spectacularly badly however and the backlash grew yesterday when an Epstein victim went public at a dramatic press conference. She said the financier had tried to lure her to his private island by saying Andrew was there.

Her lawyer joined the international clamour for Andrew to face the US authorities and tell them everything he knows. As representatives of other victims made the same demand:

Prosecutors in France said Andrew should travel to Paris to face questions about his stay at a mansion flat that Epstein owned there;

Labour and the Lib Dems added to the pressure on Andrew, with one frontbencher calling on him to give evidence to American investigators;

The prince was mired in fresh controversy for allegedly using the n-word – a claim he strongly denied – at a Buckingham Palace meeting with government officials;

Students at the University of Huddersfield announced they will vote on a motion to lobby Andrew to resign as chancellor;

A poll found that just 6 per cent of the public believe his explanation for his relationship with Epstein.

Sources today said the Royal Family has been left reeling by the fallout from the BBC interview and the renewed criticism from Epstein's victims.

While insiders were keen not to be seen to be criticising Andrew, it was clear that his wider family were 'aghast' at the interview and the subsequent reaction. 'People are shaking their heads and wondering where to go from here,' said one.

Another former royal aide has called for the prince to 'take a sabbatical' before irreversible damage is done to the charities and organisations he works with.

Questions remain as to how much the Queen knew and whether she sanctioned the interview. Palace officials repeated their line that she had been 'aware' of the interview but refused to be drawn on whether she had approved it.

On a disastrous day for the eighth in line to the throne pressure centred on the charity that he sees as a lifeline to repairing his public reputation.

During Saturday's 'make or break' appearance on BBC's Newsnight, Andrew flagged Pitch@Palace – a Dragons' Den-style scheme for entrepreneurs – as a vital way of reconnecting with the public following the scandal.

The insurance giant has insisted that its name is removed from Pitch@Palace's website

A royal aide yesterday described it as one of the few 'real success stories' of his life. But KPMG, one of Britain's leading accountancy firms, revealed it had cut ties with the duke. The firm was a founding partner and had paid up to £100,000 a year in sponsorship since 2014.

KPMG bosses decided to end the relationship last month due to 'unsavoury' issues stemming from the duke's friendship with Epstein. The decision was taken by the firm after consultation with its 'risk committee' that considers reputational issues.

The drugs giant Astrazeneca is considering its links to the Duke of York's Pitch@Palace following his Newsnight interview

Two officers on duty when paedophile Jeffrey Epstein took his own life 'will face criminal charges' Two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein when he took his own life are expected to face criminal charges this week for falsifying prison records Two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein when he took his own life are expected to face criminal charges this week for falsifying prison records. The federal charges could come as soon as Tuesday and are the first in connection with Epstein´s death, sources told The Associated Press. The wealthy financier, 66, died on August 10 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York while awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls. The officers on Epstein's unit at the federal jail in New York City are suspected of failing to check on him every half-hour, as required, and of fabricating log entries to claim they had. Advertisement

Astrazeneca, which is a 'strategic partner', said it was reviewing its three-year relationship which is due to end next month.

Aon was listed as the initiative's sole 'global partner' but sources insisted the company was not associated with Pitch@Palace and the listing was an error.

It is understood that several firms were prompted to review their relationship with Andrew after he was again accused of having sex with a teenage victim of the billionaire financier earlier this year. He vehemently denies the claims.

A web page advertising Pitch@Palace's sponsors was removed from the internet yesterday afternoon. The project has helped 931 businesses, created 5,982 jobs and generated £1.105billion of economic activity, according to Andrew's team.

The Daily Mail yesterday contacted many other multinational companies linked to the scheme, including the bank Standard Chartered and Air Asia.

But none gave their backing to the duke and instead refused to comment on their links. A KPMG spokesman refused to comment last night.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'KPMG's contract with Pitch@Palace ended at the end of October. A full programme of Pitch@Palace events is continuing across the United Kingdom.'

KPMG has decided not to renew its sponsorship of Pitch@Palace, which is Prince Andrew's scheme for start-ups

Could Prince Charles cast his brother into the Windsor wilderness? Heir to the throne has long wanted to streamline the monarchy. As Prince Andrew's interview plunges the Royal Family into crisis, RICHARD KAY asks if now is the time to act

You could almost hear the rattle of his breakfast crockery from the other side of the world as Prince Charles digested the backlash over his brother’s disastrous television appearance at the weekend.

It was not just that the debacle was drowning out the Prince’s own royal duties but that Charles was in New Zealand, which has one of the most vocal republican movements in the Commonwealth.

While there is considerable goodwill towards the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, there has been talk about the £700,000 cost to local taxpayers of their last visit four years ago.

For some years Charles has made no secret that when he comes to the throne he foresees a slimmed down monarchy with fewer members, albeit one that is more in touch with modern life. Pictured: Prince Andrew and Prince Charles at Sandringham for the Christmas Day church service in 2011

Against that backdrop, the Andrew fiasco is a further embarrassment, even 11,500 miles away.

For some years Charles has made no secret that when he comes to the throne he foresees a slimmed down monarchy with fewer members, albeit one that is more in touch with modern life. Under his plan the number of front-rank royals, we would see at formal ceremonial occasions would be considerably reduced with Andrew’s daughters Beatrice and Eugenie the most likely to be surplus to requirements.

At times it has led to tensions between the brothers with Andrew quite naturally upset that his daughters, the only two blood Princesses of their generation and with the HRH style, being sidelined in such a high-handed manner.

Prince Charles inspects a guard of honour at Government House in Auckland, New Zealand on Tuesday

Prince Charles prepares to lay a wreath at the Mount Roskill War Memorial Park in Auckland, New Zealand, on the first day of their royal tour

Three years ago it was claimed that the Prince had written to his mother asking her to intervene on behalf of the girls who have a close relationship with their grandmother, often dropping in for tea at Windsor Castle.

Things seemed intractable until the rhythms of life intervened — Eugenie is now in the second year of marriage to accountant’s son Jack Brooksbank and elder sister Beatrice will marry property developer Edo Mapelli Mozzi next year. Both Princesses are making futures away from the Royal Family.

But while the issue of his daughters has diminished, their father has been unable to escape the spotlight.

Prince Andrew interviewed by Emily Maitlis for BBC Newsnight regarding links to Jeffrey Epstein

Prince Andrew walking through Buckingham Palace with Emily Maitlis before his 'car crash' interview on his links to Jeffrey Epstein

Just imagine if the Royal Family was a corporation and Prince Andrew a director. Would he still be in a job after Saturday night’s interview?

For ten years up until 2011, Andrew’s official role as Britain’s trade envoy had been to suck up to international businessmen on behalf of Britain. In that time, the line between his official schmoozing on the nation’s behalf, and his networking among the rich on his own behalf, had become alarmingly blurred.

Dubious figures, inevitably wealthy, filled his address book of close friends, from the roistering Saif Gaddafi — son of the murderous former Libyan dictator — to Timur Kulibayev, the billionaire son-in-law of the former president of Kazakhstan. He was the figure who mysteriously paid £3 million over the £12 million asking price for Sunninghill Park, in Windsor Great Park, Andrew’s marital home that he had been unable to sell for five years.

Both Princesses are making futures away from the Royal Family. Princess Eugenie (left) and Princess Beatrice (right)

The Queen cut a sombre figure as she took to her horse for a morning ride around the grounds of Windsor Castle today with her Head Groom Terry Pendry

But then, everyone who knows Andrew well is aware he is obsessed with money. And this is what initially drew him into the unsavoury company of billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

One theory is that the Duke of York could lose his status as a working royal when Charles becomes King

Prince Charles was never comfortable with his brother occupying such a sensitive ambassadorial role for which he always thought he was ill-suited.

And over the weekend the Prince was said to have regarded his brother’s decision to grant the BBC an interview with ‘incredulity and alarm’ and had considered the whole enterprise ‘misguided’.

The negative headlines, including yesterday’s poll that showed only six per cent of the public believe Andrew’s explanation of his friendship with Epstein, will hardly have improved the Prince’s frame of mind.

No wonder figures close to Charles have been speculating that it would not just be Beatrice and Eugenie who would be erased from a streamlined Royal Family. So too, they say, would Andrew.

One theory is that the Duke of York could lose his status as a working royal when Charles becomes King. Another more drastic suggestion is that Andrew might have the funding he receives from the Sovereign Grant, the money he is given to run his private office, removed.

The Prince of Wales seemed overcome with emotion during the service in Auckland. Charles and Camilla are on their third visit to New Zealand

Palace insiders insist it is unlikely there will be any such scaling back in his duties, at least in the short term as Andrew enjoys the complete support of the Queen. And that, for now, remains the case.

Prince Charles, 71, and the Duchess of Cornwall, 72, were welcomed to New Zealand with a busy first day of engagements during an eight day royal tour

But if the public backlash worsens and the financial backing from blue-chip companies supporting his main charity Pitch@Palace continues to drain away — KPMG and Aon withdrew their sponsorship yesterday — aides may have to reconsider. If ever Andrew could have done with the wise counsel of his older brother it was this last weekend. Charles, who had his own costly television ‘moment’ 25 years ago when he admitted adultery to the broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby, would surely have urged him not to do it.

But the fact is that in recent times the two brothers have had a distant relationship. Things burst into the open in 2012 when Charles made his future vision of a slimmed down monarchy plain for all to see by excluding wider members of the family from the Buckingham Palace balcony during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

The Queen struck an elegant ensemble as she headed The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Windsor Great Park in a turquoise ensemble yesterday. It is claimed that Prince Andrew joined her at the service and assured her that his BBC interview went well

That balcony scene was one of the most significant moments of the entire Jubilee. With Prince Philip unwell and in hospital, the Queen lined up with Charles, Camilla, William and Kate and Prince Harry. It was the clearest signal yet that under Charles, the Royal Family would consist of the monarch and the monarch’s immediate family.

The contrast with the last great palace gathering, the Queen’s golden jubilee ten years earlier, could not have been greater. Then, Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward all had prominent roles. Now they were reduced to peripheral figures.

As I reported at the time, Andrew was said to have viewed the demotion as ‘like a dagger to his heart’.

Back then, he had only recently stepped down as Britain’s international trade envoy but, even so, Andrew was hurt. Even greater was his anger at the way he felt Beatrice and Eugenie had been treated in the same year when they lost their round-the-clock police protection, which followed a row over the £500,000 annual cost.

It was a move he bitterly resented because he also saw it as a sign of his own diminishing status.

The Queen and Prince Andrew together at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire on September 15

So what will happen next? Despite their differences, Charles has a good deal of affection for his brother. When Virginia Roberts’ allegations that she had sex with Andrew first became public in 2015, one of the first calls the Duke made was to his elder brother.

Andrew told him the claims were not true. Charles believed him then and believes him now.

A family friend says: ‘Nothing has come along since to make the Prince believe anything other than that Andrew has been telling the truth. The problem is he feels it has become a real mess.’

Downgrading Andrew from a working royal might even worsen things. His only interest outside his family and his charities is playing golf and, with nothing else to distract him, he could possibly become even more of a liability.

After all, when Andrew was first made Britain’s trade ambassador in 2001, Charles often described him as being like ‘a fizzy drink that has been shaken up and the stopper taken off’.

These days, the fizz has long gone out of the Duke of York. But if ever he needed to make a phone call to his brother, it is now.

Prince Andrew 'teenager' hits back: Jeffrey Epstein's alleged trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre who claims she had sex with the Duke has filmed a BBC interview about Royal's denials

By Sebastian Murphy-Bates

Jeffrey Epstein's alleged trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre has filmed an interview with the BBC in a move to shatter Prince Andrew's denials that he had sex with her.

The 35-year-old, who says she had intercourse with the Duke, spoke to Panorama before the Royal appeared on Saturday's Newsnight.

She is believed to have claimed during the conversation that the prince slept with her when she was 17.

Ms Giuffre claims that billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her to London from the US.

Ms Giuffre (pictured) claims that billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her to London from the US

And Mirror Online reports that she is furious her interview - which was filmed three weeks before Andrew's Newsnight chat aired - has not aired yet.

A source close to her told the website that she 'made no bones' about the Duke's denial during her sit-down with Panorama, in which she is said to demand he comes clean.

It comes amid speculation that Ms Giuffre's interview was deliberately held back so that it didn't jeopardise 59-year-old Andrew's interview.

The source said the her legal team have now idea why the Panorama interview has not aired.

They claim that every broadcaster to have interviewed Ms Giuffre has aired them 'almost immediately' but the BBC hasn't.

But BBC sources says that the interview forms part of a larger investigation and it is for that reason that it hasn't yet aired.

A lawyer for three victims of Epstein has demanded the Duke testify to the FBI under oath.

Prince Andrew (pictured during a Pitch@Palace event in November 2015) is facing a furious backlash as companies consider their relationship with the Duke

Prince Andrew denied any knowledge of the financier's perversions during his conversation with Emily Maitlis.

Lawyer Gloria Allred said that she could not see how Andrew would not have known that Epstein was exploiting underage minors.

Spencer Kulvin, who also represents a victim of Epstein, said that Prince Andrew's decision to go on camera 'shocked' him because anything he said could be utilised in a cross-examination.

He added that he doesn't think there's any way a man who visited all of Epstein's homes could be unaware of girls being brought in and out.

Explosive exchanges with BBC Newsnight that saw Prince Andrew flounder in hour-long 'juggernaut crash' It comes after the Prince's 'car crash' BBC interview. Sources close to the Duke of York said he wanted to address the issues head-on and did so with 'honesty and humility', despite a enormous online backlash slamming the eighth in line to the throne for a series of increasingly egregious remarks On 'unbecoming' Epstein and their friendship with him and Ghislaine Maxwell Prince Andrew [PA]: 'Do I regret the fact that he has quite obviously conducted himself in a manner unbecoming? Yes.' Emily Maitlis [EM]: 'Unbecoming? He was a sex offender.' EM: 'Do you regret the whole friendship with Epstein?' PA: 'Now...still not and the reason being is that the people I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful.' PA: 'It would be a considerable stretch to say that he [Epstein] was a very, very close friend. But he had the most extraordinary ability to bring extraordinary people together and that's the bit that I remember.' PA: 'I stayed with him and that's the bit that...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.' EM: 'Am I right in thinking you threw a birthday party for Epstein's girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, at Sandringham?' PA: 'No, it was a shooting weekend.' EM: 'A shooting weekend?' PA: 'Just a straightforward, a straightforward shooting weekend.' On staying with Epstein in New York after his conviction for prostituting a child EM, referring to the prince's stay at Epstein's New York home in 2010 after he was released from prison: 'You were staying at the house...of a convicted sex offender.' PA: 'It was a convenient place to stay... 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 my judgement was probably coloured by my tendency to be too honourable but that's just the way it is.' EM: 'It might seem a funny way to break off a friendship – a four-day house party of sorts with a dinner.' PA: 'That's a very stark way of putting it. Yes you're absolutely right. But actually the truth of it is that I actually only saw him for about... the dinner party, the walk in the park and probably passing in the passage.' On his Pizza Express alibi EM: 'Why would you remember a Pizza Express birthday and being at home?' PA: 'Because going to Pizza Express in Woking is an unusual thing for me to do, a very unusual thing for me to do.' On not being able to sweat and not liking to hug EM: 'She [Virginia Roberts] was very specific about that night. She described dancing with you. You profusely sweating.' PA: '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 sweat at the time.' PA: 'I am not one to, as it were, hug, and public displays of affection are not something that I do.' His denial that he met or had sex with any of Epstein's 'slaves' EM: 'For the record, is there any way you could have had sex with that young woman or any young woman trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein in any of his residences?' PA: 'No and without putting too fine a point on it, if you're a man it is a positive act to have sex with somebody...it's very difficult to try and forget a positive action and I do not remember anything.' EM: 'Would you be willing to testify or give a statement under oath if you were asked?' PA: 'If push came to shove and the legal advice was to do so, then I would be duty bound to do so.' Advertisement

Duchess of York says 'buck stops with' her ex-husband Prince Andrew's private secretary Amanda Thirsk over his 'car crash' Newsnight interview

By Sebastian Murphy-Bates

The Duchess of York says that the buck stops with Prince Andrew's private secretary Amanda Thirsk over his 'car crash' Newsnight interview.

Friends of the duchess said she was shocked to return to the UK from an overseas trip to find that the BBC interview went ahead.

They told the Telegraph that Thirsk should have kept the Duke of York clear of the 50-minute sit-down with Emily Maitlis.

Sources say that Andrew's car crash interview should be blamed on his private secretary Amanda Thirsk (pictured, left, with the Duke at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year) and that the Duchess (right, with Andrew) had nothing to do with it

It comes as the prince faces furious backlash over his friendship with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The programme centred on whether or not the Royal had sex with Virginia Giuffre after Epstein allegedly trafficked her from the US to London.

Sources have said that the Duchess had no involvement in the decision to go ahead with the interview.

They added that she should not have 'put him up to it' because he's 'not very quick on his feet'.

It comes after the Duchess described her ex-husband as a 'giant of a principled man' in a supportive post on Instagram on Friday.

They divorced in 1996 after being married for 10 years but they still live together in Windsor.

A second source said that Andrew should not have been put before a 'forensic interviewer' for 50 minutes to talk about one topic.

They said the matter should have been featured in a wider documentary that takes into account the work he does.

But the source admitted that the private secretary couldn't make Andrew do anything he didn't want to do.

The Duchess has previously suggested that her then-husband handled negotiations with Epstein on her behalf in 2011.

She said that 'the Duke sorted out my debts' as she admitted that 'having anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein' was a 'terrible error of judgment'.

So much for family 'rule' cited by Prince Andrew that one parent was always at home: Photos show Duke of York on a US trip in 2001 while his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson was in India

During his disastrous TV interview, Prince Andrew suggested he could not have met Virginia Roberts at Tramp nightclub because he was ‘at home with the children’.

The Duke of York said he was taking care of Beatrice and Eugenie because his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson was away.

Andrew said he and the duchess had a ‘simple rule in the family that when one is away the other is there’.

He used this as part of his defence against the allegations that he danced with Miss Roberts – the most high profile of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s victims – at the famed celebrity nightspot in Mayfair before having sex with her on the night of March 10, 2001.

Andrew said he and the duchess had a ‘simple rule in the family that when one is away the other is there’. But photographs and reports suggest they broke this pact only four months earlier. November 4, 2000: Prince Andrew with Steven Spielberg while the duchess was in India

At the same time as the duke was travelling, the duchess travelled to India to make a film for the BBC about the floods that devastated the Bengal plains. Pictured: Sarah Ferguson in India on November 3

However, photographs and reports from the time, unearthed by the Daily Mail, show the duke and duchess broke this pact only four months earlier.

Andrew flew to New York at the end of October 2000 to attend a ‘hookers and pimps’-themed Halloween party – where he was pictured with Epstein’s girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

The duke then travelled to a showbusiness ball at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, where he handed a Bafta award to film director Steven Spielberg on November 4.

He also carried out some official duties on behalf of the Queen. Reports from the time said he returned to the UK on November 10. At the same time, the duchess travelled to India to make a film for the BBC about the floods that devastated the Bengal plains.

She trekked up to the foothills of the Himalayas and was photographed in Dharamshala, the Dalai Lama’s residence, on November 4. Other press photographs show her meeting aid workers at a missionary in Kolkata, then called Calcutta, two days later.

At the time of their trips, Beatrice was 12 and was halfway through her first term at St George’s School in Ascot, Berkshire, where she was a day pupil. Eugenie was ten and attended Coworth Park School in Windlesham, Surrey.

No pictures could be found of the girls during this period and it is unclear who looked after them.

A little over four months later, Andrew is accused of dancing with Miss Roberts at Tramp.

Miss Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, claims she was forced to have sex with the duke at Maxwell’s mews house in Belgravia afterwards. She was 17 at the time and claims it was the first of three sexual encounters with Andrew. The prince denies the allegations.

When asked during the Newsnight interview whether he remembered dancing at Tramp, he replied: ‘No, that couldn’t have happened because the date that’s being suggested I was at home with the children.’

He was then asked by Emily Maitlis whether he was sure of this, to which the duke replied: ‘On that particular day that we now understand is the date which is the tenth 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.

‘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.’ In March 2001, Andrew, his ex-wife and their daughters lived at their 12-bed Sunninghill Park home in Surrey. It is roughly ten miles from Woking, a drive of perhaps 23 minutes.

The 30-mile drive to Mayfair in central London on a Saturday evening might take just over an hour.

The duchess does appear to have been away at the time in question – promoting Wedgwood china in the US, where she was pictured on March 9.