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A American legislative panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

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

The formal request to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to vacate his property in Windsor.

Documents and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and travel logs obtained 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 sexual assault.

“The panel will examine accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.

Details of the Communication

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

It continued: “It has also been reported that you journeyed 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 young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 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 offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Previous Remarks and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the authority to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US appeals for an discussion. 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 check on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Justice

The lawmaker said in a statement that “affluent and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and provide justice for the survivors. We will not stop advocating for answerability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the ongoing inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his titles suggest there is more to this story.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.