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A American legislative panel investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its probe.

The written appeal to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and agreed to surrender his property in Windsor.

Documents and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The oversight committee will probe accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Communication

“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have important details about the offenses 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 asks a response by 20 November.

Earlier Comments and Assistance

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

However, the representative does not possess the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Transparency

The congressman said in a comment that “affluent and influential men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver accountability for the affected individuals. The committee will not stop advocating for answerability and openness for victims of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the active investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue accountability. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his honors show there is additional to this case.”

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