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A US congressional body investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry.

The formal request to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and agreed to vacate his property in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will examine claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any impropriety.

Content of the Letter

“It has been widely reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been alleged that you traveled 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, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Previous Statements and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to appear before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the authority to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “wealthy and powerful men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the victims. We will not halt advocating for responsibility and openness for those affected of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive long overdue accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles suggest there is further to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.