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A US congressional committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter published on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its probe.

The formal request to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to vacate his property in Windsor.

Records and Claims

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

“The committee will examine accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any impropriety.

Details of the Request

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

It continued: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Past Comments and Assistance

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

However, the congressman does not have the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a statement that “affluent and powerful men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and deliver justice for the affected individuals. We will not halt pushing for answerability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the current investigation. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the affected individuals will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles show there is additional to this story.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.