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A American legislative committee looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter published on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s brother assist with its investigation.

The official demand to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The panel will probe claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Content of the Communication

“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed 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 alleged of abusing minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence 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 partners in crime.”

A announcement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a response by 20 November.

Past Remarks and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to give evidence before the oversight committee. The citizens deserves to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

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

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Accountability

The representative said in a comment that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and provide justice for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for answerability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the active probe. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his honors suggest there is more to this case.”

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