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

In a document made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation.

The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

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

“The committee will probe accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s network, associates, and associates based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Letter

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

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A announcement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.

Earlier Statements and Assistance

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

However, the congressman does not hold the ability to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his earlier promise 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 “given no cooperation”.

Demands for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a comment that “affluent and influential men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and provide redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease fighting for answerability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles show there is further to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.