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A American legislative panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a communication published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its probe.

The written appeal to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and opted to vacate his property in Windsor.

Documents and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The oversight committee will examine allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s network, circle, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Details of the Communication

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Earlier Comments and Collaboration

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to appear before the panel. The people should be able to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the power to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing 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 no cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The representative said in a statement that “affluent and influential men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver accountability for the affected individuals. We will not stop pushing for accountability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the survivors will receive long overdue justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors show there is further to this case.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.