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A American legislative committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its investigation.

The formal request to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and consented to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will examine allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any misconduct.

Content of the Request

“It has been widely reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A announcement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a reply by 20 November.

Previous Remarks and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the committee. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to check on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”.

Appeals for Accountability

The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and provide redress for the survivors. We will not cease advocating for responsibility and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show there is further to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.