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A US congressional committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a letter released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, 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 princely title and agreed to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The oversight committee will examine allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s network, network, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Request

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

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Statements and Collaboration

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to give evidence before the oversight committee. The people deserves to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

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

In 2020, US authorities 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 reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided absolutely no cooperation”.

Demands for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “affluent and powerful men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and provide redress for the victims. The committee will not cease advocating for responsibility and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

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

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive belated justice. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this case.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.