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A American legislative panel probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication released on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its investigation.

The official demand to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and consented to vacate his property in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will investigate allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any misconduct.

Details of the Request

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have valuable information about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a reply by 20 November.

Past Remarks and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to appear before the oversight committee. The citizens deserves to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

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

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the victims. The committee will not stop advocating for answerability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive long overdue accountability. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles show there is further to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.