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

In a communication published on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation.

The written appeal to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and agreed to give up his property in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The committee will probe claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Substance of the Letter

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

It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have valuable information 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 response by 20 November.

Earlier Comments and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to testify before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to check on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The congressman said in a comment that “rich and influential men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not halt fighting for accountability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive belated accountability. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles suggest there is more to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.