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A American legislative body looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its probe.

The formal request to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and agreed to surrender his property in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will probe allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

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

Content of the Request

“It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Past Comments and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to give evidence before the oversight committee. The public should be able to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not possess the ability to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any appropriate 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”.

Demands for Transparency

The representative said in a statement that “affluent and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and provide justice for the victims. We will not cease fighting for responsibility and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

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

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