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A US congressional body investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its investigation.

The written appeal to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and agreed to surrender his property in Windsor.

Files and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will investigate accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any impropriety.

Details of the Communication

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

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Past Remarks and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the panel. The citizens has the right to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the authority to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Accountability

The congressman said in a statement that “wealthy and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and secure justice for the survivors. The committee will not stop fighting for responsibility and clarity for victims of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors suggest there is further to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – 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.