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A American legislative body probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its probe.

The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will examine accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any impropriety.

Content of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication 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 co-conspirators.”

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

Earlier Comments and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to appear before the panel. The citizens should be able to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the ability to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The congressman said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver redress for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not halt advocating for accountability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles show there is additional to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.