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A American legislative body investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its investigation.

The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and agreed to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and flight 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 misconduct.

“The committee will examine allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s activities, associates, and connections based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any misconduct.

Details of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Remarks and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the authority to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to check 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 assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided absolutely no cooperation”.

Calls for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “affluent and influential men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and secure redress for the survivors. We will not halt advocating for answerability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles suggest there is additional to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.