🔗 Share this article House Panel Requests Questioning with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry A US congressional committee probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities. In a document released on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its probe. The written appeal to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and consented to surrender his property in Windsor. Documents and Accusations Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct. “The panel will investigate accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement. It requested details 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 vehemently rejected any wrongdoing. Substance of the Communication “It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said. It added: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have valuable information about the crimes 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 demands a response by 20 November. Earlier Remarks and Collaboration The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.” However, the congressman does not have the ability to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a overseas individual. In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”. “It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided absolutely no cooperation”. Calls for Justice The congressman said in a announcement that “affluent and well-connected men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the victims. The committee will not halt advocating for answerability and openness for victims of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.” Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.” The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive long overdue accountability. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this story.” The letter came on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.