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A American legislative panel investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter published on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s sibling help with its probe.

The written appeal to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and agreed to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

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

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Details of the Communication

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

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Remarks and Collaboration

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

However, the lawmaker does not have the power to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to check on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Transparency

The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and influential men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and secure accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not halt advocating for answerability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his network of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the current investigation. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive belated justice. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show there is more to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.