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A US congressional body probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a document published on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation.

The official demand to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and agreed to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The committee will examine claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s network, associates, and connections based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Details of the Request

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Previous Remarks and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The public should be able to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the authority to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals for an interview. 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 follow up 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 pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The representative said in a comment that “wealthy and influential men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and secure justice for the affected individuals. The committee will not cease pushing for answerability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the active inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors show there is more to this case.”

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