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

In a document released on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its investigation.

The formal request to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and consented to vacate his property in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will investigate accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s operations, network, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any impropriety.

Details of the Request

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you traveled 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 young girls. 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 confirms our concern that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Previous Remarks and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the oversight committee. The citizens should be able to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the authority to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US demands 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 follow up on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Justice

The lawmaker said in a comment that “wealthy and well-connected men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and secure redress for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for accountability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed justice. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles indicate there is additional to this situation.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the alteration – 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.