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A American legislative body looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

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

The official demand to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and consented to give up his property in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The oversight committee will probe accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s operations, network, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Details of the Communication

“It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Earlier Comments and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the committee. The citizens has the right to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the ability to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a foreign national.

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

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

Calls for Accountability

The representative said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver redress for the affected individuals. We will not stop fighting for accountability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the current investigation. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive belated accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles suggest there is additional to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.