🔗 Share this article

A American legislative panel looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s brother help with its probe.

The official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and consented to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The panel will investigate accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

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

Details of the Request

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A announcement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a reply by 20 November.

Past Statements and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the panel. The people should be able to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

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

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and deliver accountability for the affected individuals. We will not halt pushing for responsibility and openness for victims of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

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

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show there is additional to this situation.”

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