House Panel Requests Interview with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a communication released on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its investigation.
The official demand to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and opted to give up his leased home in Windsor.
Records and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The panel will examine claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.
Substance of the Request
“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have important details about the wrongdoings 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 requests a response by 20 November.
Past Statements and Collaboration
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the committee. The people has the right to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not have the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to 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 contacted Andrew’s legal team to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any relevant 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 zero cooperation”.
Appeals for Justice
The lawmaker said in a statement that “affluent and powerful men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and secure redress for the affected individuals. The committee will not cease fighting for answerability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive long overdue justice. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this case.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.