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A US congressional body looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

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

The official demand to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and opted to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and aviation records secured 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 abuse.

“The oversight committee will examine claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any misconduct.

Content of the Request

“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Comments and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the oversight committee. The people should be able to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the ability to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to check on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The congressman said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and provide justice for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not halt advocating for responsibility and openness for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the active inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed redress. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his titles show there is further to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.