Congressional Panel Requests Questioning with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
A American legislative panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a document published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry.
The official demand to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and agreed to surrender his leased home in Windsor.
Documents and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and flight logs obtained 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 misconduct.
“The panel will probe claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s activities, circle, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.
Content of the Letter
“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a reply by 20 November.
Previous Remarks and Cooperation
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the committee. The people deserves to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a foreign national.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to check on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.
Calls for Transparency
The lawmaker said in a statement that “affluent and well-connected men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and secure redress for the victims. We will not halt pushing for accountability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”
Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the victims will receive long overdue justice. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his styles indicate there is more to this case.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
