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A American legislative panel looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its inquiry.

The written appeal to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and consented to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will examine allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s activities, network, and connections based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.

Content of the Request

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to appear before the oversight committee. The people deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not have the ability to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a foreign national.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given zero cooperation”.

Calls for Accountability

The representative said in a comment that “wealthy and well-connected men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver redress for the victims. The committee will not stop advocating for responsibility and clarity for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed accountability. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors suggest there is further to this situation.”

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