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A US congressional committee looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a document released on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its investigation.

The official demand to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The panel will examine accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Communication

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

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 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 co-conspirators.”

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

Previous Statements and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to appear before the panel. The people has the right to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the authority to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any relevant 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 absolutely no cooperation”.

Calls for Accountability

The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and secure redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not stop advocating for answerability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his gang of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors suggest there is additional to this case.”

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