Prince Andrew once claimed that a “peculiar medical condition” prevented him from being able to sweat.
The Duke of York has made headlines again this week as new allegations against him came to light. A memoir written by Virginia Giuffre, who accused the prince of sexual assault, is set to be published posthumously next week months after her death in April.
Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.
Prince Andrew’s BBC Newsnight interview
In late 2019, Prince Andrew sat down for an interview with BBC Newsnight.
He spoke with Emily Maitlis about his friendship with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the sexual assault allegations against him.
During the interview, he made a bizarre claim about sweating playing a key part in his defence.
In the bombshell interview at Buckingham Palace, Newsnight’s Maitlis grilled Prince Andrew about Ms Giuffre’s claims.
‘There’s a medical condition to say that I didn’t do it’
Maitlis asked Prince Andrew about Ms Giuffre’s claims that she and Andrew had danced at a nightclub on the night in 2001 when she claims they first had sex.
“She was very specific about that night,” Maitlis told the prince.
“She described dancing with you, and you profusely sweating,” she continued at which Andrew scoffed.
As Emily continued: “And that you went on to have…”
I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat.
“There’s a slight problem with the sweating,” Prince Andrew cut in at this point. “I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat, or I didn’t sweat at the time.”
“I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when I was shot at and it was almost impossible for me to sweat,” he went on. “And it’s only because I have done a number of things in the recent past that I am starting to be able to do that again.”
“So, I’m afraid to say that there’s a medical condition to say that I didn’t do it,” he ultimately concluded.
Can Prince Andrew really not sweat?
Lawyers for Giuffre subsequently demanded medical evidence of Prince Andrew’s alleged medical condition.
However, the prince’s legal team rejected this request “on the grounds that it is harassing and seeks confidential and private information and documents that are irrelevant, immaterial and not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence”. They also said that the prince had no such documents in his possession to hand over.
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In 2021, Ms Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew in the US, accusing him of sexual assault. She alleged that she was made to sleep with Prince Andrew on three occasions when she was 17 after being trafficked by convicted sex offender Epstein.
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