Calls for Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to answer questions over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein in the US have intensified after the former prince was stripped of his titles.
King Charles removed Andrew’s royal titles and confirmed he will evict the disgraced royal from his mansion in the grounds of Windsor Castle on Thursday amid outrage over fresh allegations tied to his relationship with sex offender Epstein. Buckingham Palace said the censures were needed even though Andrew has continued to deny the allegations made against him.
Lawmakers in the US have now ramped up their calls for Andrew to hand over information on Epstein’s crimes to a House Oversight Committee, with key figures saying he may even be able to speak to a congressional committee remotely via video link.
The BBC reported at least four Democrat members of the House Oversight Committee investigating the US government’s handling of the Epstein case had renewed calls for Andrew to testify.
Democrat Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said he would be willing to formally call Andrew to testify, but admitted it may be hard to enforce with the former prince outside the US.
“However, if Andrew wishes to come to the United States or he’s here, then he’s subject to the jurisdiction of the US Congress, and I would expect him to testify,” he told the BBC.
“At the end of the day, we want to know exactly what happened, not just to give justice to the survivors, but to prevent this from ever happening again.
“Come clean, come before the US Congress, voluntarily testify, don’t wait for a subpoena come and testify and tell us what you know.
“Not just to give justice to the survivors but to prevent this from ever happening again.”
Another Democrat Congressman, Suhas Subramanyam, said Andrew could appear remotely with a lawyer and speak to the panel privately.
He added: “If he wants to clear his name, if he wants to do right by the victims, he will come forward.
“No matter who it is – American or not – everyone should be looked at.”
Buckingham Palace has been asked to comment.
On Friday, UK trade minister Chris Bryant told the BBC that Andrew should go to the US to answer questions about Epstein.
“I think that just as with any ordinary member of the public, if there were requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any decently minded person to comply with that request,” he said. “So I feel exactly the same in this situation.
“What I’m basically saying is that I think that if Andrew is asked to do something by a Senate committee then I would have thought that he would want to comply.”
In the UK, the police watchdog said it had contacted the Metropolitan Police to ask if there were matters it should be looking into in light of recent media reports.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it had contacted Scotland Yard’s Directorate of Professional Standards last week, but had not yet received any referrals.
