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A US congressional panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a document published on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its investigation.

The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and opted to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and travel logs secured 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 abuse.

“The committee will probe claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any impropriety.

Details of the Communication

“It has been documented 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 sex work,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Comments and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to give evidence before the oversight committee. The public should be able to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Accountability

The congressman said in a comment that “rich and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver redress for the survivors. We will not stop advocating for accountability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

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

The letter was sent 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 “letters patent” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.