🔗 Share this article

A US congressional body probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a communication published on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its investigation.

The official demand to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and agreed to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will probe allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Previous Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to testify before the committee. The people has the right to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

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

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team 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 assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered no cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The representative said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and deliver justice for the affected individuals. We will not cease advocating for accountability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the active investigation. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed accountability. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his titles show there is additional to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.