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A US congressional committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a document published on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s sibling help with its investigation.

The written appeal to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and agreed to surrender his property in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will investigate allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s network, associates, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Request

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you journeyed 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 alleged of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along 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 important details 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 asks a response by 20 November.

Past Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to appear before the panel. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the ability to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies 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 lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to check on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any relevant 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 “provided no cooperation”.

Calls for Accountability

The congressman said in a statement that “affluent and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and secure redress for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for answerability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his gang of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation 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 additional to this situation.”

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