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A American legislative committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its inquiry.

The written appeal to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and consented to vacate his property in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The oversight committee will probe claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s activities, network, and connections based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any impropriety.

Details of the Request

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Earlier Statements and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing 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 “given zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Accountability

The congressman said in a comment that “affluent and powerful men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and deliver accountability for the affected individuals. We will not stop advocating for responsibility and transparency for victims of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the active probe. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed redress. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his honors indicate there is further to this story.”

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