🔗 Share this article

A American legislative panel investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication published on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its investigation.

The written appeal to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and agreed to surrender his property in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The committee will probe accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s operations, network, and connections based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any misconduct.

Content of the Letter

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you journeyed 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 charged of abusing minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Remarks and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The people should be able to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the power to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The representative said in a comment that “affluent and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide justice for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for answerability and openness for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the active inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the survivors will receive belated justice. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles suggest there is additional to this case.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.