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A US congressional panel 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 investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s brother help with its inquiry.

The official demand to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to give up his property in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The oversight committee will investigate claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s operations, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any impropriety.

Details of the Request

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

It stated further: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Statements and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the panel. The people deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not possess the ability to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “wealthy and well-connected men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and secure accountability for the survivors. We will not stop fighting for responsibility and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors indicate there is additional to this situation.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.