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A US congressional panel investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its inquiry.

The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and agreed to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

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

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Content of the Communication

“It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have valuable information 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 asks a answer by 20 November.

Past Remarks and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to appear before the oversight committee. The people deserves to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the ability to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot force statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US demands 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 lawyers to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Appeals for Justice

The representative said in a comment that “rich and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide redress for the survivors. The committee will not halt fighting for accountability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the current investigation. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive much-delayed justice. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles suggest there is more to this situation.”

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