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‘If he is hoping that the story will just go away by ignoring us and being silent, he will be sorely disappointed,’ US representative warns
Harry CockburnFriday 21 November 2025 14:34 GMTComments
CloseDemonstrators protest outside Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s home
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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has failed to respond to an official summons to testify before the United States government regarding his friendship with the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The former prince has been accused of “hiding” from US officials on the House oversight committee – one of the most powerful committees in the US Congress – which is responsible for investigations, monitoring and ensuring accountability across the federal government.
On 6 November, the committee requested that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor sit for a “transcribed interview” about his connections with Epstein, giving him a deadline of Thursday 20 November to respond.
However, according to reports, he has not replied.
Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat who sits on the committee, said this week that the former Duke of York “has been hiding from us, and I think he will continue to try to hide from people doing meaningful investigations of this matter”. He added: “It seems like every time we find more evidence, Prince Andrew seems to be in the documents.”
open image in galleryAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor now has the status of a commoner (PA Wire)Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has faced mounting pressure from US lawmakers to answer questions about his well-documented friendship with Epstein. Some Democrats have previously suggested he could speak over video link with a lawyer present.
Though the committee is powerful, it does not have the authority to force testimony from individuals who are not US citizens and reside abroad, nor can it issue subpoenas compelling foreign nationals outside of US jurisdiction. As a result, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor is under no legal requirement to cooperate.
It is unclear what US lawmakers may choose to do next now that the former prince has failed to respond to their request. However, Mr Subramanyam suggested that, just because the disgraced royal has failed to respond, it doesn’t mean that the issue will be dropped.
“If he is hoping that the story will just go away by ignoring us and being silent, he will be sorely disappointed, as we continue to pursue this over the next year and beyond,” he warned.
In 2022, the former prince made an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre – an Epstein survivor who had accused him of sexual assault and rape – without admitting any wrongdoing. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has always maintained that the allegations are false, and has also previously resisted attempts by US prosecutors and lawyers working for Epstein’s victims to persuade him to cooperate.
However, damaging recent newspaper allegations also included a claim that he had tried to get the Metropolitan Police to dig up dirt for a smear campaign against Giuffre.
open image in galleryThe then Duke of York pictured with Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell (PA Media)The force previously said it was looking into the reports after The Mail on Sunday claimed that the then Prince Andrew had passed Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011 and asked him to investigate.
According to The Telegraph, “sources close to him” have suggested that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor is being singled out in a bid to take the heat off other high-profile figures whose names are said to appear in the soon-to-be-released Epstein files.
Following US president Donald Trump’s signing of a bill earlier this week to release the Epstein files, the entire cache of evidence accumulated during two investigations into Epstein is now legally required to be made public by the US government within 30 days.
While some of the evidence will be redacted, due to factors that include protecting victims’ identities and potentially compromising active criminal investigations, the bill also stipulates that “no record shall be withheld, delayed, or redacted based on embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary”.
The Independent has contacted Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s representatives for comment.
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