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A US congressional body probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a document made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its investigation.

The official demand to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and opted to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The oversight committee will examine allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s network, associates, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

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

Substance of the Request

“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private 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 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 offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

A announcement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.

Previous Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the committee. The people deserves to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a non-US citizen.

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

“It’s just 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 representative said in a statement that “affluent and well-connected men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide redress for the victims. The committee will not cease advocating for responsibility and clarity for victims of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive belated redress. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his styles indicate there is more to this situation.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.