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A US congressional panel looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication published on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its probe.

The official demand to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and opted to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released 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 investigate accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any misconduct.

Content of the Letter

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

It continued: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have valuable information about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was supported 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 committee. The people should be able to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the ability to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Justice

The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and secure justice for the survivors. The committee will not stop advocating for responsibility and transparency for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the current investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive long overdue accountability. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors indicate there is further to this case.”

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