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A US congressional committee looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication published on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s brother assist with its probe.

The official demand to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and agreed to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will investigate accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Content of the Letter

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

It continued: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Past Comments and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the committee. The people deserves to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not possess the authority to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “rich and powerful men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and provide accountability for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not stop advocating for accountability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the ongoing inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed accountability. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles suggest there is additional to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.