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A US congressional body investigating pedophile financier 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 criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its investigation.

The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The oversight committee will investigate allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Request

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have valuable information 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 asks a response by 20 November.

Earlier Remarks and Cooperation

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

However, the congressman does not possess the authority to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to check on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s reasonable 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”.

Appeals for Transparency

The representative said in a comment that “wealthy and influential men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and deliver redress for the victims. The committee will not stop pushing for responsibility and clarity for victims of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue justice. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors suggest there is more to this situation.”

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