🔗 Share this article House Panel Seeks Questioning with Prince Andrew in Epstein Probe A American legislative committee probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings. In a letter released on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s brother assist with its probe. The written appeal to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and agreed to vacate his leased home in Windsor. Records and Accusations Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct. “The committee will probe claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement. It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any wrongdoing. Substance of the Request “It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said. It added: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.” A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November. Previous Statements and Cooperation The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the committee. The public should be able to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.” However, the congressman does not hold the power to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force statements from a overseas individual. In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”. “It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”. Demands for Transparency The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and influential men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver accountability for the victims. The committee will not cease pushing for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of partners.” Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage 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 demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive belated justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this case.” The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.