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A American legislative panel probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling help with its probe.

The official demand to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and opted to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

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

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any misconduct.

Substance of the Request

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

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Remarks and Collaboration

The letter comes 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 harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials 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 lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any suitable 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 “offered zero cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and deliver justice for the affected individuals. We will not cease pushing for accountability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing investigation. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his honors indicate there is more to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.