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A US congressional committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its inquiry.

The official demand to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and opted to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and travel 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 sexual assault.

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

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

Substance of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Previous Comments and Assistance

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

However, the representative does not possess the ability to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Accountability

The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and influential men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and secure justice for the victims. The committee will not halt fighting for responsibility and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing investigation. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the survivors will receive long overdue justice. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this situation.”

The letter came on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.