A lawyer for the British royal has described a request for personal medical information as harassment
Attorneys for Virginia Giuffre are seeking proof of Prince Andrew’s claims that he suffers from a condition that prevents sweating, which he says disproves Giuffre’s sexual assault allegations against him.
Giuffre alleges the prince sexually assaulted her in 2001 at the homes of Jeffrey Epstein and his business partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty this week on sex trafficking charges linked to her relationship with the billionaire financier, a convicted pedophile. Giuffre did not testify at trial, but her allegations were referenced. She alleges the assaults began when she was 17, and that Prince Andrew was aware of her age.
The request for proof of Prince Andrew’s purported condition forms part of Giuffre’s New York civil case alleging sexual abuse. The royal claimed in a 2019 interview that one issue undermining Giuffre’s account of a sexual assault was the detail of his having been “dripping with sweat” after they were dancing at a club. The prince claims this would not have been feasible because of his aforementioned inability to perspire. The legal request seeks “all documents concerning your alleged medical condition of anhidrosis, hypohidrosis, or your inability to sweat,” as well as details of his communications with Epstein and Maxwell.
Lawyers for the prince have no plans to cooperate with the request, deeming it “harassing” because it seeks “private information” that is “irrelevant, immaterial and not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.”
This latest move in the case was itself a response to the attempt by the prince’s legal team to get the suit thrown out, They argue that, as Giuffre now lives primarily in Australia, the case should be halted until it’s determined whether she can legally file in New York.
Her lawyers have called Prince Andrew’s argument a “transparent attempt to delay discovery into his own documents and testimony,” and have asserted that Giuffre is a Colorado citizen and registered to vote there, so there is no impediment to her filing a suit in the US.
