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A US congressional committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry.

The official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will examine claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, network, and connections based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Substance of the Communication

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

It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Past Statements and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the panel. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force statements from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any suitable 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 “given no cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The representative said in a comment that “rich and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and provide justice for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not halt advocating for accountability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive belated accountability. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles indicate there is further to this story.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.