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A US congressional panel looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother assist with its investigation.

The official demand to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and flight logs secured 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 committee will examine accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s network, circle, and associates based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.

Content of the Request

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the crimes 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 requests a reply by 20 November.

Earlier Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the ability to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.

Demands for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a comment that “rich and powerful men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and secure redress for the affected individuals. The committee will not stop advocating for answerability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the active investigation. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed redress. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his honors indicate there is additional to this situation.”

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