Congressional Committee Seeks Interview with Prince Andrew in Epstein Investigation

A US congressional committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its inquiry.

The official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and agreed to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The oversight committee will investigate claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.

Content of the Request

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have valuable information about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.

Past Remarks and Collaboration

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the oversight committee. The public has the right to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The representative said in a comment that “wealthy and influential men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not halt advocating for responsibility and openness for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the current inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive belated accountability. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.