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A American legislative committee probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation.

The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and opted to give up his property in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will investigate claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, network, and associates based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.

Details of the Communication

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Comments and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the committee. The public should be able to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the authority to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to check on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any relevant 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 zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The representative said in a comment that “affluent and powerful men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and provide redress for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for accountability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles show there is more to this case.”

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