🔗 Share this article

A US congressional body investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document made public on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its probe.

The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and consented to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will probe accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Communication

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a response by 20 November.

Earlier Statements and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the committee. The citizens should be able to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not have the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to 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 reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.

Demands for Accountability

The representative said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and secure justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for accountability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the current probe. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive belated justice. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his honors suggest there is additional to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.