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A American legislative body looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its investigation.

The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will investigate accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s network, circle, and associates based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Comments and Assistance

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

However, the representative does not have the ability to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a comment that “affluent and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and secure redress for the survivors. We will not halt advocating for responsibility and openness for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the current inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles suggest there is more to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.