House Panel Requests Questioning with the Duke of York in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation

A US congressional body looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document published on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling help with its inquiry.

The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will probe accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s activities, circle, and associates based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Content of the Letter

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

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Previous Statements and Collaboration

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the committee. The citizens deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to check on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Transparency

The representative said in a comment that “affluent and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and deliver redress for the survivors. The committee will not halt fighting for responsibility and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his gang of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing investigation. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed justice. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his styles suggest there is further to this story.”

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