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A American legislative body investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a letter published on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its probe.

The official demand to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and opted to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The committee will investigate claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Details of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed 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 minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence 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 co-conspirators.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.

Earlier Comments and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the panel. The people should be able to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the authority to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities 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 lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Justice

The representative said in a statement that “affluent and powerful men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and secure redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease pushing for accountability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another endorser, 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 assists with the active investigation. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive long overdue justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors indicate there is more to this story.”

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