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A American legislative panel looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its inquiry.

The formal request to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to surrender his property in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will probe accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s network, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Content of the Communication

“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.

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

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

Past Remarks and Assistance

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

However, the congressman does not hold the ability to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “wealthy and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver accountability for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not halt fighting for answerability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

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

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors suggest there is further to this case.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.