House Panel Requests Deposition with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Probe

A US congressional committee looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a document released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s sibling help with its investigation.

The formal request to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and consented to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will investigate accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Details of the Communication

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A announcement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a response by 20 November.

Past Statements and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to appear before the committee. The people deserves to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the power to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a foreign national.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US demands for an meeting. 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 check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Transparency

The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and powerful men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide redress for the survivors. The committee will not halt fighting for responsibility and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed redress. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles show there is more to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.