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A US congressional body investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

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

The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The committee will probe claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s activities, circle, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

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

Content of the Request

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

It added: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Previous Comments and Cooperation

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the committee. The citizens should be able to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US appeals for an meeting. 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 follow up on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Justice

The congressman said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and secure justice for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for accountability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current probe. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed redress. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles indicate there is more to this story.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.