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A US congressional panel looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document published on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its probe.

The written appeal to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and opted to give up his property in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The committee will probe claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any impropriety.

Details of the Communication

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls 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 residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Remarks and Collaboration

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to give evidence before the committee. The public should be able to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not have the power to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to check on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Accountability

The representative said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and secure accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for responsibility and clarity for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors show there is further to this situation.”

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