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A US congressional committee probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication published on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its investigation.

The official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.

Files and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will investigate claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Content of the Request

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

It added: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have important details about the offenses 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 Remarks and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to appear before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not possess the authority to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Justice

The congressman said in a comment that “rich and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and secure justice for the survivors. We will not stop advocating for responsibility and openness for survivors of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the active investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the victims will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles suggest there is additional to this story.”

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