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A US congressional panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter released on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its probe.

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

Records and Claims

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

“The oversight committee will probe claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s network, network, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

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

Substance of the Communication

“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming 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 key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a reply by 20 November.

Earlier Comments and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the panel. The people should be able to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the power to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Transparency

The congressman said in a announcement that “rich and well-connected men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and provide accountability for the survivors. We will not halt fighting for responsibility and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current investigation. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.