🔗 Share this article

A American legislative body investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its inquiry.

The written appeal to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and agreed to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The oversight committee will examine allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s network, circle, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Communication

“It has been widely reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A announcement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a reply by 20 November.

Previous Remarks and Cooperation

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the oversight committee. The people has the right to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities 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 prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “rich and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and deliver justice for the affected individuals. The committee will not halt pushing for responsibility and transparency for victims of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the survivors will receive long overdue redress. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his titles suggest there is additional to this case.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.