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

In a communication released on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s brother assist with its probe.

The formal request to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and flight logs secured 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 abuse.

“The oversight committee will investigate allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any misconduct.

Details of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, 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 close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November.

Past Statements and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the oversight committee. The public should be able to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Justice

The congressman said in a comment that “rich and well-connected men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and secure redress for the affected individuals. The committee will not stop advocating for accountability and openness for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his titles indicate there is further to this situation.”

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