🔗 Share this article

A US congressional body investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a document released on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its inquiry.

The written appeal to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The oversight committee will investigate accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Letter

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

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Previous Statements and Cooperation

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 harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the ability to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his public commitment 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 public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The lawmaker said in a comment that “wealthy and influential men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and secure accountability for the affected individuals. We will not cease pushing for responsibility and openness for those affected of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the active probe. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

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

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