🔗 Share this article

A US congressional panel probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication published on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother assist with its inquiry.

The official demand to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and consented to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

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

“The committee will probe accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s network, associates, 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 killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any impropriety.

Content of the Letter

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

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings 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 demands a response 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 oversight committee. The citizens should be able to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not have the authority to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “wealthy and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and secure accountability for the survivors. We will not stop advocating for accountability and openness for victims of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the active probe. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive belated justice. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles show there is more to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.