🔗 Share this article

A US congressional body investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation.

The formal request to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and opted to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The oversight committee will investigate claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s activities, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any misconduct.

Details of the Request

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.

Previous Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just 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”.

Demands for Justice

The congressman said in a announcement that “affluent and well-connected men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and provide redress for the survivors. The committee will not halt pushing for answerability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the current inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed accountability. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his honors indicate there is further to this situation.”

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