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A American legislative panel investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding 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 investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its inquiry.

The official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The oversight committee will investigate accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any misconduct.

Details of the Request

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

It added: “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 personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Previous Statements and Assistance

The letter arrives 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 abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the power to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply 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 check on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided absolutely no cooperation”.

Appeals for Accountability

The representative said in a comment that “rich and well-connected men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and provide accountability for the survivors. The committee will not stop fighting for responsibility and openness for survivors of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the survivors will receive long overdue redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his styles suggest there is further to this situation.”

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