🔗 Share this article Congressional Panel Asks for Interview with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry A US congressional panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations. In a letter published on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry. The official demand to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and agreed to give up his rented residence in Windsor. Documents and Accusations Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and aviation records subpoenaed 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 sexual assault. “The panel will investigate allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s activities, network, and connections based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release. It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any impropriety. Details of the Communication “It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said. It added: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.” A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November. Earlier Comments and Collaboration The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the committee. The citizens deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.” However, the representative does not possess the authority to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot force statements from a foreign national. In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US demands 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 check on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any relevant 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”. Demands for Justice The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and provide accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease pushing for answerability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his network of partners.” Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.” The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles show there is additional to this case.” The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.