🔗 Share this article

A American legislative committee probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

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

The official demand to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to vacate his property in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and flight 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 sexual assault.

“The committee will probe allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Details of the Request

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Statements and Collaboration

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

However, the lawmaker does not have the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given no cooperation”.

Demands for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a comment that “wealthy and influential men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and secure justice for the survivors. We will not cease pushing for responsibility and transparency for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the ongoing probe. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive long overdue justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors indicate there is additional to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally removed 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 public registry.