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A US congressional body looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a communication published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its inquiry.

The formal request to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and consented to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will probe accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Substance of the Request

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

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you traveled 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 intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Earlier Remarks and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to appear before the committee. The citizens has the right to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the ability to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his public commitment that he was “willing 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 “offered absolutely no cooperation”.

Demands for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a announcement that “wealthy and powerful men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and secure accountability for the survivors. We will not cease fighting for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the active investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the survivors will receive long overdue justice. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his honors indicate there is more 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 “official document” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.