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A US congressional body investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a document published on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its probe.

The written appeal to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to vacate his property in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and aviation records subpoenaed 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 misconduct.

“The panel will examine accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

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

Substance of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Remarks and Cooperation

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

However, the representative does not hold the authority to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The congressman said in a statement that “wealthy and powerful men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and provide redress for the affected individuals. We will not stop fighting for responsibility and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the active investigation. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed justice. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his styles suggest there is further to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.