🔗 Share this article

A US congressional body looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its probe.

The official demand to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and opted to give up his property in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will probe claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Letter

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

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Past Remarks and Collaboration

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to give evidence before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the ability to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his previous pledge 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 assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The representative said in a statement that “wealthy and influential men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and secure redress for the affected individuals. The committee will not halt advocating for accountability and openness for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the current probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

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

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