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A US congressional panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a document released on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s brother help with its investigation.

The written appeal to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and agreed to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The committee will probe claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s activities, circle, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Communication

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

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion 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 co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a response by 20 November.

Previous Statements and Assistance

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the ability to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to check on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered no cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and powerful men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver redress for the victims. The committee will not halt pushing for answerability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the ongoing probe. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors indicate there is more to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.