'No documents in Prince Andrew's possession' to prove inability-to-sweat claim

In this 2019 file photo, Britain's Prince Andrew arrives at ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS) in Nonthaburi, Thailand. Photo / AP

The Duke of York has revealed there are no witnesses to corroborate his claim that he was at Pizza Express on the night he allegedly slept with a teenager trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein.

He also said he had no documents in his possession regarding the "peculiar medical condition" he said prevented him from sweating.

The claims were made in court documents filed on Thursday night in response to discovery requests made by his alleged victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

The Pizza Express and sweating revelations were made during the Duke's disastrous Newsnight interview in November 2019, which he offered as proof that Ms Giuffre was lying about the night she alleged that she was abused.

Ms Giuffre has lodged a civil claim for unspecified damages, alleging that the Duke assaulted or raped her on three separate occasions in 2001 when she was 17. The Duke denies her claims and says he has no recollection of meeting her.

Both sides have now submitted detailed discovery requests, listing the evidence they require to build their respective cases.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Photo / Supplied

Andrew Brettler, the Duke's lead counsel based in Los Angeles, has asked the judge to halt proceedings on the grounds that Ms Giuffre is not domiciled in the US, which would make her claim invalid.

In response, David Boies, for Ms Giuffre, lodged a lengthy objection, attaching the Duke's responses to their own discovery requests.

The objection revealed that they had made eight document requests, compared to the Duke's 214, and have asked for four interrogatories, additional questions they would like to put to other parties.

They have asked for information relating to the Duke's travel on Epstein's planes, as well as his visits to "a Pizza Express located in Woking, England" and "the Club Tramp nightclub, located in London, England".

They have also asked for evidence of his medical condition and details of trips within the US, as well as any communication he has had over the years with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Prince Andrew's friends and legal team have claimed the photo could have been faked. Photo / Getty Images

During his Newsnight interview, which Ms Giuffre's legal team has confirmed it will use as the basis for its case, the Duke said that he could not have been with her on the night in question, March 10, 2001, as he was at home with his daughters and had taken Princess Beatrice to a party at Pizza Express in Woking.

He said he was able to recall such detail because going to Pizza Express was a "very unusual" thing for him to do, adding that he remembered it "weirdly distinctly".

Ms Giuffre's lawyers have asked him to identify anyone he had "met or encountered" during the visit as well as any documents concerning his travel to or from the restaurant or his presence there.

The Duke said that he had met no one there. On the request for documents, his lawyer's response added: "Defendant is unable to comply with Request No. 4(f) because no such documents exist in his possession, custody or control. A diligent search and a reasonable inquiry have been made in an effort to comply with this demand."

Ms Giuffre has alleged that on the night she was abused, she was taken to Tramp nightclub in Mayfair by the Duke, Epstein and Maxwell, who was this week convicted of sex trafficking.

She said of the Duke during a 2019 Panorama interview: "It was horrible and this guy was sweating all over me – like, his sweat was raining basically everywhere."

The Duke told Newsnight there was a "slight problem" with her recollection as he did not sweat during that period due to a "peculiar medical condition" arising from an overdose of adrenaline received during the Falklands War when he was shot.

Mr Boies has asked the Duke to identify anyone he met or encountered at Tramp nightclub that night, as well as any documents concerning his travel to or from or his presence at the club.

His lawyers said there were none because he was not there.

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Photo / File

Mr Boies also asked for the names of anyone with information about his "alleged medical condition of anhidrosis, hypohidrosis" or his "inability to sweat". In response, the Duke's team said he could identify only himself.

In terms of documentary evidence, they said he was unable to comply "because no such documents exist in his possession, custody or control".

They added: "A diligent search and a reasonable inquiry have been made in an effort to comply with this demand."

Mr Boies said in his court filing that "based on his discovery responses, Prince Andrew has apparently already determined that he has no documents that would be responsive to the majority of Plaintiff's requests".

He added: "If Prince Andrew truly has no documents concerning his communications with Maxwell or Epstein, his travel to Florida, New York, or various locations in London, his alleged medical inability to sweat, or anything that would support the alibis he gave during his BBC interview, then continuing with discovery will not be burdensome to him at all."

Lewis Kaplan, the judge, will hear arguments on the Duke's motion to dismiss the case, as well as his request to halt proceedings based on Ms Giuffre's domicile, on January 4.