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A US congressional committee probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

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

The official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will examine allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s network, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Content of the Request

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

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled 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 charged of harming young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Remarks and Collaboration

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the committee. The public has the right to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the authority to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to check on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The lawmaker said in a comment that “affluent and powerful men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and secure accountability for the victims. The committee will not cease pushing for answerability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

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

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive long overdue accountability. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors show there is more to this case.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.