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A American legislative committee looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document published on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its investigation.

The official demand to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and consented to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will probe accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Details of the Communication

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have key insights 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 requests a response by 20 November.

Past Comments and Cooperation

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

However, the representative does not hold the power to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US demands for an interview. 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 previous pledge that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a comment that “wealthy and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and deliver redress for the victims. We will not cease fighting for responsibility and openness for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed accountability. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his titles suggest there is additional to this situation.”

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