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A US congressional body probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

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

The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and consented to surrender his property in Windsor.

Documents and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will examine claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

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

Content of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 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 wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Comments and Assistance

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

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

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US appeals for an meeting. 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 public commitment that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Justice

The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and deliver justice for the affected individuals. The committee will not cease fighting for answerability and openness 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 public reporting of released files, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive belated accountability. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.