House Panel Requests Questioning with Prince Andrew in Epstein Investigation
A US congressional panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a letter released on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation.
The official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to vacate his property in Windsor.
Documents and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The committee will examine accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any wrongdoing.
Details of the Communication
“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a response by 20 November.
Earlier Comments and Cooperation
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to appear before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not hold the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a foreign national.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US appeals 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 legal team to inquire on his previous pledge that he was “prepared 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 “offered no cooperation”.
Demands for Transparency
The lawmaker said in a announcement that “rich and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and secure accountability for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for accountability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”
Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the current inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his styles suggest there is additional to this case.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
