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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, asking that he submit to questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation.

The official demand to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The oversight committee will probe claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any misconduct.

Substance of the Letter

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Past Comments and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the panel. The people has the right to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not have the authority to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to check on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and provide accountability for the victims. We will not halt advocating for answerability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the ongoing inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his styles show there is additional to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.