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A US congressional panel investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a document released on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s sibling help with its inquiry.

The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to vacate his property in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will probe accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any wrongdoing.

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 soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Comments and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the oversight committee. The people should be able to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any relevant 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 “given absolutely no cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The congressman said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and provide justice for the affected individuals. The committee will not stop fighting for accountability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his honors suggest there is additional to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.