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A American legislative committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication published on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its probe.

The written appeal to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and agreed to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

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

“The oversight committee will examine claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s operations, associates, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Letter

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been alleged 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 accused of harming minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Previous Remarks and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The public should be able to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not have the power to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and provide justice for the survivors. We will not halt fighting for answerability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the active investigation. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his honors suggest there is more to this case.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king publicly 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 made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.