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A US congressional committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s brother assist with its inquiry.

The official demand to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and opted to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will investigate claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting minors. 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 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 endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a reply by 20 November.

Previous Statements and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the oversight committee. The citizens should be able to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not have the authority to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Justice

The congressman said in a comment that “affluent and influential men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and provide justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for responsibility and clarity for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the active investigation. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive belated accountability. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles indicate there is more to this case.”

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