House Panel Asks for Questioning with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation

A American legislative body looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its probe.

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

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and aviation records subpoenaed 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 panel will investigate allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Letter

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

It added: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York property, 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 close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters 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 co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a reply by 20 November.

Past Statements and Collaboration

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the committee. The people deserves to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the ability to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Justice

The representative said in a comment that “rich and powerful men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and secure accountability for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not stop pushing for responsibility and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his group of partners.”

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 active inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive belated accountability. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his honors suggest there is further to this case.”

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