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A American legislative panel probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter published on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its inquiry.

The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and opted to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The oversight committee will probe claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s network, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any misconduct.

Details of the Request

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring 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 secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have key insights 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 requests 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 give evidence before the committee. The citizens has the right to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not possess the ability to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given no cooperation”.

Appeals for Accountability

The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and influential men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and deliver accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not halt pushing for responsibility and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his gang of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive belated accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show there is more to this case.”

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