A US congressional body probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a document published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its inquiry.
The formal request to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and opted to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The oversight committee will investigate accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any wrongdoing.
“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 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 partners in crime.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a reply by 20 November.
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to testify before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not possess the power to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US appeals 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 attorneys to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered no cooperation”.
The representative said in a statement that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver justice for the survivors. The committee will not stop fighting for accountability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”
Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the active investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive long overdue justice. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles indicate there is further to this story.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
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