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A US congressional committee probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its probe.

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

Files and Claims

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

“The panel will probe claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s network, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled 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 alleged of harming young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Comments and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the panel. The public deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not have the authority to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US demands 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 attorneys to check on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.

Calls for Justice

The lawmaker said in a comment that “wealthy and well-connected men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and deliver accountability for the survivors. The committee will not cease advocating for responsibility and openness for victims of Epstein and his gang of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the active investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the survivors will receive belated justice. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles indicate there is further to this situation.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.