🔗 Share this article Congressional Committee Requests Questioning with the Duke of York in Jeffrey Epstein Probe A American legislative body investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings. In a document made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its investigation. The written appeal to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and consented to vacate his property in Windsor. Files and Allegations Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault. “The panel will examine allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, circle, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement. It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety. Substance of the Communication “It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced 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 alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have important details about the wrongdoings 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. Previous Comments and Assistance The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the oversight committee. The public should be able to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.” However, the lawmaker does not have the authority to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a non-US citizen. In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to inquire 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 fulfilled with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”. Appeals for Transparency The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and provide accountability for the victims. The committee will not stop pushing for answerability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his network of partners.” Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the current investigation. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.” The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive long overdue accountability. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles show there is additional to this situation.” The letter came on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.