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A US congressional panel probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter published on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother help with its inquiry.

The formal request to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and agreed to surrender his property in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will examine accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, network, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Request

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing minors. 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 supports our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Previous Comments and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the panel. The people deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the authority to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to check on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any relevant 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 absolutely no cooperation”.

Appeals for Accountability

The congressman said in a comment that “rich and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide accountability for the survivors. The committee will not cease fighting for accountability and openness for victims of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors indicate there is additional to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.