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A US congressional committee probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

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

The written appeal to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and flight logs 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 abuse.

“The panel will examine claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s network, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Request

“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Previous Remarks and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to give evidence before the oversight committee. The people deserves to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the power to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US requests for an discussion. 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 reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.

Calls for Justice

The representative said in a statement that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and provide redress for the survivors. We will not cease pushing for answerability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the survivors will receive belated justice. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles show there is further to this situation.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.