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A US congressional panel looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document published on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s brother help with its inquiry.

The official demand to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Accusations

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

“The committee will probe accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a reply by 20 November.

Past Comments and Cooperation

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the committee. The citizens has the right to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not have the ability to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Accountability

The congressman said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver justice for the affected individuals. We will not stop advocating for answerability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the current investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive belated accountability. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his styles show there is further to this case.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.