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A US congressional committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a document made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s brother assist with its inquiry.

The official demand to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Accusations

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

“The committee will probe accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Request

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing minors. 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 supports our belief that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A statement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a answer by 20 November.

Earlier Statements and Assistance

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

However, the representative does not hold the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US authorities 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 lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to check on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Demands for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the victims. The committee will not cease pushing for accountability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the active investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

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

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.