Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has been asked by Democrats in US Congress to answer questions as part of its investigation into paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Members of the House Oversight Committee wrote to Andrew in a letter addressed to Royal Lodge, the Windsor mansion from which he was ordered to move when he was stripped of his title as a prince on 30 October.
The committee does not have the power to compel Andrew to appear in front of them, but said it intends to ask questions related Epstein’s network and associates based on the pair’s “longstanding” friendship.
Andrew was stripped of his titles following months of pressure over his ties to Epstein. He has always denied wrongdoing.
The committee is controlled by Republicans, who have not indicated they would support the move to urge Andrew to testify.
Signed by 16 Democrats, the letter asked Andrew to sit for a “transcribed interview” in front of the congressional committee investigating the Epstein case.
It reads: “The committee is seeking to uncover the identities of Mr Epstein’s co-conspirators and enablers and to understand the full extent of his criminal operations,” the letter read.
“Well-documented allegations against you, along with your long-standing friendship with Mr Epstein, indicate that you may possess knowledge of his activities relevant to our investigation.
“In the interest of justice for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, we request that you co-operate with the committee’s investigation by sitting for a transcribed interview with the committee.”
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the invite was a matter for Andrew to consider “personally”.
“My view, and this is not about the individual case, more broadly, is that anybody who has relevant information should always be willing to give it to whatever inquiries need that information.
“But the individual decision is a matter for him.”
Spencer Kuvin, a lawyer who has represented several Epstein accusers, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he did not think Andrew would “put himself at risk” and appear before the committee.
Anyone who gives testimony in Congress must swear to tell the truth, he explained, and risk being “prosecuted for lying under oath”.
But by saying who he saw at Epstein’s home and “validating” certain accounts by accusers, Andrew could help identify Epstein’s possible co-conspirators.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said it was “right” that Andrew appear before Congress over his links to Epstein.
“He should also give evidence to our Parliament. The public deserve answers and full transparency about this scandal,” he wrote in a post on X.
Buckingham Palace announced in late October that Andrew would lose his “prince” title and leave Royal Lodge as his links to Epstein continued to cause controversy.
It came a few weeks after Andrew said he had chosen to give up his titles, including the Duke of York.
“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first,” he said at the time, adding that the decision had been taken after a discussion with the King.
In a posthumous memoir published in October, Virginia Giuffre – a prominent accuser of Epstein – repeated allegations that, as a teenager, she had sex with Andrew on three separate occasions. Andrew denies the accusations.
The committee addressed those allegations in the letter, requesting the former prince make himself available for an interview “given these recent events and the appalling allegations that have come to light from Ms Giuffre’s memoir and other reliable sources”.
Some members of the committee had already intensified their calls for Andrew to answer questions about his links to the late sex offender days after he was stripped of his titles.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bbc.com ’
