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A American legislative panel looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a document released on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its probe.

The official demand to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will examine allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s network, network, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Request

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a reply by 20 November.

Previous Comments and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to appear before the oversight committee. The citizens deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”

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

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.

Demands for Accountability

The representative said in a comment that “rich and powerful men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and secure accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not stop pushing for responsibility and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his network 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 released files, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the active probe. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his styles suggest there is further to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.