🔗 Share this article

A US congressional body probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its inquiry.

The written appeal to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and agreed to vacate his property in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

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

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Content of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.

Earlier Statements and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the committee. The people has the right to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the authority to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to check on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The representative said in a comment that “wealthy and well-connected men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the victims. We will not halt fighting for answerability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the active probe. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed accountability. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles suggest there is additional to this situation.”

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