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A American legislative committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter released on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother help 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 leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

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

“The oversight committee will examine allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and connections based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship 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 publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “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 private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a reply by 20 November.

Earlier Statements and Cooperation

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

However, the representative does not have the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Accountability

The representative said in a announcement that “rich and influential men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and provide redress for the survivors. The committee will not stop pushing for answerability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive long overdue justice. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his styles indicate there is more to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.