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A US congressional body investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry.

The formal request to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and agreed to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The oversight committee will investigate accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s activities, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.

Content of the Letter

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have valuable information 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 demands a response by 20 November.

Previous Statements and Collaboration

The letter arrives 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 underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the authority to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Transparency

The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver justice for the affected individuals. The committee will not cease fighting for accountability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the ongoing investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

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

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