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A US congressional panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its probe.

The written appeal to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and aviation records secured 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 abuse.

“The panel will probe accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

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

Content of the Letter

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

It added: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 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 wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Past Comments and Collaboration

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

However, the representative does not have the ability to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a overseas individual.

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

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The congressman said in a announcement that “wealthy and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver redress for the victims. We will not stop advocating for responsibility and openness for survivors of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the current investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles suggest there is additional to this story.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.