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A American legislative body probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

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

The official demand to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will investigate claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded 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 impropriety.

Substance of the Letter

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

It added: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming young girls. 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 supports our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Comments and Collaboration

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the panel. The people deserves to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Transparency

The representative said in a statement that “wealthy and influential men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and deliver accountability for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not cease pushing for responsibility and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the ongoing probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the survivors will receive belated accountability. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this situation.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.