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A American legislative panel looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested 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 royal title and agreed to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and aviation records 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 committee will examine accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s network, associates, and connections based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any misconduct.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship 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 suspicion that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Comments and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the committee. The public has the right to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the authority to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any suitable 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 no cooperation”.

Calls for Transparency

The congressman said in a statement that “affluent and influential men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and secure justice for the affected individuals. The committee will not cease fighting for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the active inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue redress. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.