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A US congressional body looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication released on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its investigation.

The written appeal to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and consented to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The panel will investigate accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s network, circle, and connections based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Details of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you went 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 charged of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Remarks and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the panel. The citizens should be able to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Justice

The congressman said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and provide accountability for the victims. We will not halt advocating for accountability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the active probe. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his honors show there is further to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.