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A US congressional body looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a document published on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its investigation.

The official demand to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and consented to vacate his property in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will investigate accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s operations, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been widely reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along 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 valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Statements and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to appear before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a overseas individual.

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

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given zero cooperation”.

Demands for Justice

The congressman said in a statement that “affluent and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and secure redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for responsibility and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the current probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.