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A US congressional committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication released on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry.

The written appeal to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The oversight committee will investigate claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Communication

“It has been widely reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Comments and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens should be able to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

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

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US demands 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 attorneys to check on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given no cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “wealthy and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and secure justice for the affected individuals. The committee will not stop fighting for accountability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive long overdue accountability. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show 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 adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.