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A American legislative panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its investigation.

The formal request to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and consented to vacate his property in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will examine accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s activities, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Letter

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

It stated further: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded 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 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a reply by 20 November.

Past Statements and Cooperation

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the committee. The public has the right to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the ability to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “prepared 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 zero cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and provide justice for the affected individuals. The committee will not halt pushing for responsibility and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his honors indicate there is additional to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.