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A US congressional committee looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged 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 HRH style and agreed to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and travel 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 sexual assault.

“The committee will examine allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s network, circle, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you journeyed 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 young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a response by 20 November.

Past Statements and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the committee. The citizens should be able to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the authority to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a foreign national.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “willing 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 “provided zero cooperation”.

Demands for Accountability

The congressman said in a comment that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver accountability for the victims. The committee will not stop pushing for answerability and openness for victims of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the active probe. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed redress. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles indicate there is more to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.