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A US congressional committee looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

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

The written appeal to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and agreed to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and flight logs 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 misconduct.

“The committee will probe allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s network, circle, and associates based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Details of the Communication

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming minors. This intimate friendship 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 belief that you may have important details about the wrongdoings 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 requests a answer by 20 November.

Earlier Comments and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the committee. The public should be able to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not have the authority to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.

Demands for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a comment that “rich and influential men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and secure redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not halt pushing for answerability and openness for survivors 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 media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the active inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive belated redress. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his styles show there is additional to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.