🔗 Share this article

A US congressional body looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a document made public on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling help with its inquiry.

The formal request to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to surrender his property in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The panel will investigate claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, associates, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Content of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Past Remarks and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the committee. The public deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared 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 “provided no cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The lawmaker said in a statement that “wealthy and powerful men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver justice for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not halt pushing for accountability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his gang of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his styles suggest there is further to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.