🔗 Share this article

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

In a communication published on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation.

The written appeal to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and opted to vacate his property in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will investigate claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s activities, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Communication

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” 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 accused of assaulting underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Previous Statements and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the committee. The citizens should be able to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not possess the ability to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US appeals for an meeting. 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 follow up on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Justice

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “wealthy and powerful men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver justice for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for responsibility and transparency for victims of Epstein and his gang of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the current inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the survivors will receive belated justice. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors indicate there is additional to this case.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.