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A US congressional body investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter published on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling help with its probe.

The official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and opted to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will investigate claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s operations, network, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.

Content of the Communication

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” 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 abusing young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have important details about the crimes 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.

Earlier Comments and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The citizens deserves to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the ability to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Justice

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “affluent and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not halt pushing for responsibility and openness for those affected of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the active investigation. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive belated justice. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors indicate there is more to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.