Will lawyers grill Andrew’s daughter Beatrice over Pizza Express?

The Duke of York is bracing himself for his former wife and daughter Princess Beatrice to be dragged into his court case.

He is expecting to find out imminently which family members lawyers for sex accuser Virginia Roberts wish to interview under oath.

The next stage of the sexual assault case brought by Miss Roberts is for both sides to formally interview witnesses, done outside of a courtroom setting but with a court recorder sitting in.

The Duke of York (pictured) is bracing himself for his former wife and daughter Princess Beatrice to be dragged into his court case

Princess Beatrice crosses the road in Chelsea this week as she goes out on a shopping with her baby daughter Sienna 

Princess Beatrice pushes her baby daughter Sienna in a pram along King’s Road while shopping in Chelsea this week

Princess Beatrice comes out of a store in Chelsea earlier this week as she goes on a shopping trip in London

Priness Beatrice puts her pram into the back of a London black cab this week after her shopping trip in Chelsea

Known as depositions, the hearings allow lawyers to ask any question, no matter how personal.

David Boies, Miss Roberts’ lawyer who has been nicknamed the ‘great inquisitor’ because of his skill at interviewing witnesses under oath, has already suggested he might question Sarah Ferguson and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Andrew gave Beatrice as his alibi – saying they were at Pizza Express in Woking – for the date in 2001 when he is alleged to have forced Miss Roberts to have sex.

Each side in the case is expected to name – as early as this weekend – about a dozen witnesses they want to interview. Both lists could include current or former royal staff, footmen and secretaries, if the lawyers think they might have testimony helpful to their client.

David Boies, Miss Roberts’ lawyer who has been nicknamed the ‘great inquisitor’ because of his skill at interviewing witnesses under oath, has already suggested he might question Sarah Ferguson and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice (pictured) and Eugenie

Princess Beatrice drinks a Pret coffee as she walks around London’s exclusive Chelsea district earlier this week

Princess Beatrice pushes her daughter Sienna in a pram around London’s Chelsea while looking in the shops

Princess Beatrice went shopping earlier this week just hours before the Queen stripped Prince Andrew of his honorary military roles

Beatrice was seen in London this week two-and-a-half hours before Buckingham Palace issued the statement

Princess Beatrice is also styled as Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi after her marriage to the property developer in July 2020

Princess Beatrice looks at the sales on King’s Road in Chelsea while pushing her three-month-old daughter Sienna in a pram

The case is progressing this week after Andrew’s crushing defeat trying to have Miss Roberts’ claims against him thrown out. She vowed to prove ‘that the rich and powerful are not above the law’.

Outside America, US courts do not have jurisdiction. However there is a legal mechanism for forcing British witnesses to give evidence via a High Court order known as a ‘letter of request’.

Andrew denies the accusations.