🔗 Share this article

A US congressional panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its probe.

The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and aviation records subpoenaed 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 sexual assault.

“The committee will investigate accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any misconduct.

Content of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York home, 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 young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Remarks and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the panel. The people should be able to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the authority to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a non-US citizen.

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

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

Appeals for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “affluent and well-connected men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and provide justice for the victims. We will not cease pushing for responsibility and openness for those affected of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive long overdue accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles indicate there is more to this case.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.