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A US congressional committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.

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

The official demand to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to give up his property in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

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

“The committee will probe allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s network, network, and connections based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Substance of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York property, 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 minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have valuable information about the crimes 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 demands a reply by 20 November.

Previous Comments and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to give evidence before the committee. The public should be able to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to check 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 assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered no cooperation”.

Calls for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “wealthy and well-connected men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and deliver justice for the affected individuals. We will not halt fighting for responsibility and clarity for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another endorser, 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 crucial that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive belated redress. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this story.”

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