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A US congressional body investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its probe.

The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to surrender his property in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will investigate claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have valuable information about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Remarks and Collaboration

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to appear before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to check on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Justice

The congressman said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not stop pushing for answerability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the active investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the victims will receive long overdue accountability. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his titles show there is additional to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.