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A American legislative panel looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a document published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its probe.

The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and opted to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will examine allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Content of the Request

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

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting young girls. This close relationship 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 co-conspirators.”

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

Previous Remarks and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens deserves to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

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

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any suitable 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”.

Calls for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a statement that “affluent and influential men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and deliver justice for the victims. The committee will not stop fighting for accountability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the victims will receive long overdue justice. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his styles indicate there is more to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.