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A US congressional committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a document published on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its inquiry.

The official demand to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The committee will probe accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Request

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed 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 alleged of assaulting minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November.

Earlier Remarks and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The people should be able to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not have the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials 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 attorneys to follow up on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and deliver redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease pushing for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the active probe. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles show there is more to this case.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.