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A US congressional committee looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s sibling help with its inquiry.

The written appeal to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and agreed to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will investigate accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s operations, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term 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 vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Substance of the Communication

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Previous Remarks and Collaboration

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The people has the right to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the authority to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Accountability

The congressman said in a statement that “affluent and influential men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and deliver redress for the survivors. We will not halt pushing for answerability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

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

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.