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A American legislative panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

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

The written appeal to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and flight logs obtained 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 sexual assault.

“The oversight committee will probe allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s activities, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Request

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Statements and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens should be able to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals 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 attorneys to follow up 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 honored with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The representative said in a announcement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and secure accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for answerability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the active inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his styles show there is further to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.