🔗 Share this article

A American legislative panel looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its investigation.

The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and agreed to vacate his property in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The oversight committee will investigate accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s network, associates, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any misconduct.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Past Comments and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the panel. The public has the right to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the authority to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The congressman said in a announcement that “wealthy and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide justice for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not halt advocating for answerability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed redress. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show there is further to this case.”

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