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A US congressional committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling help with its investigation.

The formal request to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

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

“The panel will examine allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s network, network, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any misconduct.

Content of the Request

“It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went 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 harming young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Previous Statements and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the oversight committee. The citizens should be able to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the ability to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any appropriate 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 “offered zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and deliver redress for the survivors. We will not cease advocating for answerability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive long overdue justice. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles show there is further to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.