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A US congressional panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s brother assist with its inquiry.

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

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The oversight committee will probe allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s operations, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Details of the Communication

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed 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 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 confirms our belief 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 co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a reply by 20 November.

Previous Comments 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 public should be able to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the authority to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies 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 approached Andrew’s legal team to check on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The representative said in a comment that “rich and influential men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and provide accountability for the affected individuals. We will not halt pushing for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the current investigation. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue redress. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles show there is additional to this case.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.