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A US congressional committee probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s brother help with its investigation.

The written appeal to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records 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 sexual assault.

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

It requested details 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 strongly denied any impropriety.

Details of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a reply by 20 November.

Earlier Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the committee. The public deserves to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a non-US citizen.

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

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

Calls for Justice

The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and powerful men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver accountability for the survivors. The committee will not cease fighting for answerability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his gang of partners.”

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

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors show there is more to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.