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A American legislative committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its inquiry.

The official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and agreed to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

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

“The oversight committee will probe accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s activities, associates, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.

Details of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have important details about the offenses 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 requests a reply by 20 November.

Earlier Comments and Cooperation

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the committee. The citizens should be able to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

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

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Transparency

The representative said in a announcement that “rich and powerful men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide redress for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for accountability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing investigation. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed redress. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors show there is further to this case.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.