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A American legislative committee probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s brother help with its investigation.

The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and agreed to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will examine allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s operations, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Details of the Request

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

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a response by 20 November.

Previous Remarks and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the committee. The citizens has the right to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to check 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 honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.

Calls for Transparency

The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide justice for the survivors. We will not cease fighting for responsibility and transparency for victims of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive long overdue accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show there is more to this story.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.