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A US congressional committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a document made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its inquiry.

The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and opted to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will examine claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, network, and connections based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested 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 consistently vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Content of the Communication

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Comments and Cooperation

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the panel. The people deserves to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the ability to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given no cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The representative said in a comment that “affluent and influential men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for answerability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the affected individuals will receive belated accountability. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors suggest there is more to this situation.”

The letter came on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.