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A US congressional committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a document made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its investigation.

The official demand to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and agreed to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and travel logs secured 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 misconduct.

“The committee will examine accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s operations, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any impropriety.

Content of the Request

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

It added: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Statements 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 citizens should be able to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the ability to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot force statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies 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 reached out to Andrew’s legal team to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “wealthy and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver justice for the survivors. The committee will not halt pushing for accountability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the current investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors indicate there is additional to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.