🔗 Share this article

A US congressional body investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

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

The official demand to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and agreed to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Accusations

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 accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will probe allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s network, associates, and associates based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Content 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 sentencing for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Comments and Assistance

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

However, the congressman does not hold the ability to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to check 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 fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided absolutely no cooperation”.

Calls for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a statement that “wealthy and powerful men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and secure redress for the victims. The committee will not halt advocating for accountability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the current inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles indicate there is further to this situation.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.