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A American legislative body looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling help with its inquiry.

The formal request to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

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

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been widely reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have valuable information about the offenses 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 answer by 20 November.

Previous Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not have the ability to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.

Calls for Justice

The congressman said in a comment that “rich and powerful men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and provide accountability for the affected individuals. We will not halt pushing for answerability and openness for victims of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed accountability. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles show there is additional to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.