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A US congressional body investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its inquiry.

The official demand to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and agreed to vacate his property in Windsor.

Documents and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will examine accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s network, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Statements and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the panel. The people deserves to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the authority to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a comment that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and deliver redress for the survivors. We will not cease advocating for answerability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed accountability. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors suggest there is further to this situation.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.