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A American legislative panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s brother assist with its probe.

The official demand to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and agreed to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The panel will examine claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s activities, network, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any misconduct.

Details of the Communication

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting 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 confirms our suspicion that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Past Comments and Collaboration

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the committee. The people deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not have the power to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US requests 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 attorneys to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given no cooperation”.

Calls for Justice

The congressman said in a statement that “affluent and influential men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and provide redress for the victims. We will not halt pushing for accountability and openness for those affected 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 news accounts of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles show there is more to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.