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A US congressional committee probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written 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 made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its probe.

The official demand to provide testimony follows 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 is listed in papers and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will investigate claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s network, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Letter

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

It added: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief 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 requests a reply by 20 November.

Past Remarks and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the panel. The citizens should be able to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not have the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.

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

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

Demands for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a comment that “rich and powerful men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and deliver redress for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not stop pushing for accountability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive belated justice. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his titles show there is additional to this situation.”

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