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A US congressional committee looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

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

The formal request to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and agreed to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The committee will probe claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s operations, network, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any impropriety.

Details of the Communication

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

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went 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 charged of harming underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Earlier Remarks and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the oversight committee. The public has the right to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the authority to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any relevant 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 “offered no cooperation”.

Calls for Accountability

The congressman said in a comment that “affluent and powerful men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver redress for the affected individuals. We will not stop pushing for answerability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue redress. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this case.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.