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A American legislative body investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its investigation.

The written appeal to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and agreed to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will examine allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s network, circle, and connections based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Content of the Communication

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

It added: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Comments and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the committee. The public should be able to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the ability to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Transparency

The representative said in a comment that “rich and powerful men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and deliver accountability for the victims. We will not halt pushing for answerability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed justice. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this case.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.