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A American legislative panel looking into sex offender 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 wrongdoings.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its probe.

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

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged 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 request information on Epstein’s activities, network, and connections based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Communication

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November.

Earlier Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the committee. The people should be able to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to follow up 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 absolutely no cooperation”.

Appeals for Accountability

The congressman said in a comment that “affluent and powerful men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and secure justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease pushing for responsibility and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the victims will receive belated justice. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles show there is additional to this situation.”

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