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A American legislative body probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

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

The written appeal to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and opted to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will probe allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s network, circle, and connections based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.

Content of the Request

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Earlier Remarks and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to appear before the committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the ability to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot force statements from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US appeals 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 lawyers to check on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Accountability

The representative said in a comment that “wealthy and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and secure justice for the affected individuals. The committee will not cease fighting for answerability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the current probe. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his styles suggest there is further to this situation.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially 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 public registry.