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A American legislative committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication published on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its inquiry.

The written appeal to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and agreed to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The panel will probe allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s activities, circle, and associates based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Details of the Request

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

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private 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 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have valuable information about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Earlier Statements and Cooperation

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to appear before the oversight committee. The people should be able to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the power to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his public commitment 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 pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered no cooperation”.

Calls for Transparency

The representative said in a statement that “rich and influential men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and secure accountability for the victims. The committee will not halt fighting for responsibility and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his gang of partners.”

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

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue justice. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his honors suggest there is more to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.