🔗 Share this article

A American legislative body probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter published on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s sibling help with its probe.

The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and agreed to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will probe accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s network, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Communication

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Previous Remarks and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the ability to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony 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 prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “willing 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 “provided zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a comment that “wealthy and influential men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and provide accountability for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not cease fighting for answerability and openness for victims of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.