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A American legislative committee probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s brother help with its probe.

The official demand to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and agreed to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Claims

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

“The committee will examine claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and connections based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, 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 strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a reply by 20 November.

Previous Comments and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the committee. The people deserves to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the ability to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and influential men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and deliver redress for the survivors. We will not cease fighting for accountability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the current investigation. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

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

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.