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A US congressional panel probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s brother help with its probe.

The official demand to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and agreed to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will investigate allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any misconduct.

Content of the Communication

“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Previous Remarks and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the committee. The public deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a statement that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and secure redress for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not cease fighting for accountability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive belated accountability. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles show there is further to this situation.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.