House Committee Asks for Interview with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation

A American legislative committee looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter published on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its inquiry.

The official demand to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to vacate his property in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will probe accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details 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 particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any misconduct.

Content of the Request

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed 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 close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Remarks and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the power to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a comment that “rich and influential men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver justice for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not stop pushing for answerability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his honors indicate there is further to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.