Handshaking pains Prince

Press, 8 February 1985, Page 6

Handshaking pains Prince

NZPA-AP London Prince Philip has been in agony for months from too much handshaking, the “Daily Express” reports. The London tabloid said that as a result Prince Philip, aged 63, had changed his once-firm grip to a limp handshake to try to beat the pain. Like the rest of the Royals, the Prince shakes the hands of hundreds of people each week during official duties and visits. The paper said that his “secret” had come to light when he visited Strangeways arthritis research laboratory at Cambridge. It did not say when the visit was, but quoted the director, Dr John Dingle, as saying: “The Prince told us he had to change his handshake because he has been suffering pain when people’s thumbs press repeatedly on the same spot on his hand.”

The “Express” quoted a Royal aide as saying: "The Prince has been suffering in

silence. It’s the first anyone has heard of it. You have to give him credit: he has never shirked shaking hands.” The paper said that the Queen has been known to complain about the strain of repeated handshaking and that in November Prince Charles was told by doctors not to shake hands for a while because it was aggravating a wrist injury.