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A US congressional committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its inquiry.

The official demand to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and consented to surrender his property in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will probe claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s network, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any impropriety.

Substance of the Request

“It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming underage individuals. 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 bolsters our suspicion that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Previous Comments and Assistance

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

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

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any suitable 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 “given no cooperation”.

Calls for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “rich and powerful men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide accountability for the affected individuals. We will not halt advocating for accountability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the ongoing probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

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

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