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A US congressional committee looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a communication released on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry.

The written appeal to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and agreed to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The panel will examine claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, network, 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 details of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Substance of the Request

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have important details 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 reply by 20 November.

Earlier Comments and Cooperation

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the authority to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a overseas individual.

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

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

Demands for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a comment that “affluent and influential men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide redress for the affected individuals. The committee will not stop fighting for answerability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue accountability. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles show there is more to this story.”

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