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A US congressional panel probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

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

The written appeal to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and agreed to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Documents and Accusations

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

“The committee will investigate claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any misconduct.

Content of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Comments and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to appear before the committee. The citizens should be able to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not possess the ability to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond 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 attorneys to follow up on his previous pledge 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 assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.

Calls for Justice

The representative said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and secure redress for the victims. The committee will not stop fighting for accountability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the survivors will receive belated justice. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles show there is additional to this case.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.