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A American legislative committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written 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 letter released on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its inquiry.

The official demand to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The oversight committee will probe allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s activities, circle, and connections based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a reply by 20 November.

Earlier Remarks and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to appear before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the authority to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US demands 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 legal team to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any appropriate 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 “provided zero cooperation”.

Calls for Accountability

The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and powerful men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and secure justice for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not halt advocating for responsibility and openness for survivors of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

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

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles indicate there is more to this story.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.