Congressional Panel Requests Questioning with Prince Andrew in Epstein Inquiry
A US congressional committee looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a document published on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its probe.
The written appeal to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and opted to vacate his leased home in Windsor.
Files and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The panel will examine accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.
Substance of the Request
“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went 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 accused of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November.
Previous Remarks and Collaboration
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the panel. The people deserves to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not have the power to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a foreign national.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given zero cooperation”.
Demands for Accountability
The representative said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and provide justice for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for accountability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his gang of partners.”
Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the ongoing probe. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive belated justice. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.