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A American legislative body looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its investigation.

The written appeal to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will investigate allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Details of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.

Earlier Statements and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the committee. The public has the right to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not possess the authority to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot compel statements 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 prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any relevant 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”.

Calls for Justice

The congressman said in a statement that “affluent and well-connected men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and secure justice for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for answerability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the active inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors indicate there is more to this case.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.