🔗 Share this article

A American legislative committee looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a document published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its investigation.

The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and opted to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The oversight committee will probe allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any impropriety.

Content of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November.

Earlier Statements and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to appear before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the power to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to check on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The congressman said in a comment that “wealthy and influential men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver accountability for the survivors. The committee will not halt fighting for accountability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the current investigation. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive much-delayed justice. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles indicate there is more to this story.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.