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A US congressional body investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication released on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry.

The written appeal to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and consented to give up his property in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will investigate claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, associates, and associates based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any misconduct.

Substance of the Request

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

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing underage individuals. This close relationship 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 suspicion that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A announcement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a reply by 20 November.

Past Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the panel. The public deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the ability to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given no cooperation”.

Demands for Accountability

The representative said in a announcement that “rich and powerful men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the survivors. The committee will not cease fighting for responsibility and transparency for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the current inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

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

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