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A American legislative body probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a letter published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry.

The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and flight logs secured 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 sexual assault.

“The panel will probe accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s operations, network, and connections based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any impropriety.

Substance 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 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Past Remarks and Collaboration

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the panel. The people has the right to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not have the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US requests 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 attorneys to check on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just 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”.

Calls for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “rich and influential men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and deliver redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not halt advocating for accountability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

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

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue accountability. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his styles show there is more to this story.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.