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A American legislative body looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s brother assist with its probe.

The official demand to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and agreed to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The oversight committee will probe claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s network, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Content of the Letter

“It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a answer by 20 November.

Earlier Comments and Cooperation

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the ability to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to inquire 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 assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.

Calls for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and influential men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and secure redress for the affected individuals. We will not halt advocating for accountability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the ongoing investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed justice. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles suggest there is further to this case.”

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