Congressional Committee Seeks Interview with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Probe
A US congressional body looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a communication released on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its investigation.
The written appeal to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and opted to give up his leased home in Windsor.
Records and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The committee will probe claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s activities, network, and connections based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association 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 Letter
“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.
Earlier Statements and Assistance
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not have the ability to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given no cooperation”.
Calls for Transparency
The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and provide accountability for the survivors. The committee will not stop pushing for answerability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his gang of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the survivors will receive belated accountability. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this story.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
