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A US congressional committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a document published on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its inquiry.

The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and consented to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The oversight committee will examine accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported 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 prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Request

“It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have important details about the offenses 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 asks a response by 20 November.

Previous Remarks and Assistance

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

However, the congressman does not hold the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair 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 Transparency

The congressman said in a announcement that “wealthy and well-connected men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and secure redress for the survivors. We will not stop advocating for answerability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive long overdue redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles show there is further to this situation.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.