The disgraced former British royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor faces another gruelling week, with the UK’s parliament resuming on Tuesday after a brief recess. Stripped of his titles, the brother of King Charles III is now a commoner and unprotected by a parliamentary convention that bars criticism of British royals.
In particular, opposition members of the British legislature are expected to push for more details on the size of any payouts made to Mountbatten Windsor as part of his eviction from Royal Lodge – a 30-bedroom mansion that has been his home for the past 20 years. Questions are also swirling over his conduct as a British trade envoy between 2001 and 2011.
The expected parliamentary pummeling comes as Democrats in the US House of Representatives are seeking testimony from the former prince amid their ongoing investigation into the late sex trafficker and child molester Jeffery Epstein, the Washington Post reports. The prospect has left Mountbatten Windsor “terrified” according to one royal expert.
Robert Garcia (D-California), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has requested that Mountbatten Windsor appear before Congress for a transcribed interview about his longtime friend and associate, convicted sex offender and child molester Jeffery Epstein.
The former prince’s name appears multiple times in documents subpoenaed by the committee, including some subsequently released by Democrats. He was also named by Virginia Giuffre as having sex with her and other young underage girls trafficked by Epstein. “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,” Garcia wrote in the letter, sent Thursday.
“I was trafficked to other billionaires, I was trafficked to other politicians. It was the elite of the world,” Giuffre said in a 2019 60 Minutes interview. “They should be named. What they’ve done is horrific.”
[See more: No longer a prince: Andrew stripped of royal title by Britain’s King Charles]
Efforts to unearth more details about Epstein’s associates hit a brick wall in July, when the US Justice Department (DOJ) issued a two-page memo asserting that it found no evidence of blackmail against powerful people by Epstein or a “client list.”
Despite a fierce backlash from supporters, US President Donald Trump defended the DOJ memo and dismissed concerns. His allies have quickly closed ranks, with a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee’s Republican majority, none of whom signed onto Garcia’s letter, emphasising that Garcia “does not speak for the committee and his letters carry no committee authority.”
However, some Republicans have spoken out against what they see as an administration coverup. Ro Khanna (D-California), a member of the Oversight Committee, and Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) are now attempting to force the issue through a discharge petition.
If it reaches 218 signatures, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) would be required to hold a floor vote compelling the release of DOJ files on Epstein. Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in late September, promised to provide the 218th signature once seated; Johnson has repeatedly refused to seat her.“Rich and powerful men have evaded justice for far too long,” Garcia said in a statement. “Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.” Thirteen other Democrats on the committee signed onto Garcia’s letter.
