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A American legislative body probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo 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, asked that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its probe.

The formal request to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.

Documents and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The oversight committee will investigate accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

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

Substance of the Letter

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “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 secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

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

Previous Statements and Collaboration

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

However, the lawmaker does not hold the ability to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot force statements from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.

“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.

Calls for Transparency

The congressman said in a statement that “rich and influential men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for answerability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue justice. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles show there is further to this case.”

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