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A US congressional committee looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter released on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation.

The official demand to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and opted to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will examine accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Content of the Communication

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

It added: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Statements and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the panel. The public should be able to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a foreign national.

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

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

Demands for Accountability

The congressman said in a announcement that “rich and well-connected men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and secure justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for responsibility and openness for victims of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles show there is further to this case.”

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