I love the royals but I feel ignored and rejected and I’m in a lot of pain
PHILIP CRASH VICTIM’S SHOCK AT NO APOLOGY
THE woman who broke her wrist in a car crash with Prince Philip today reveals her “pain, shock and upset” – and says the Duke has NOT apologised to her.
Weeping Emma Fairweather tells how the horrific collision unfolded “in slow motion” and says she “couldn’t stop screaming” as Philip’s Land Rover crunched into her friend’s Kia.
Mum-of-two Emma, who is 46 today, says she has heard nothing from Buckingham Palace – despite officials saying that contact had been made “privately and well wishes exchanged”.
Speaking for the first time, Emma tells the Sunday Mirror of the terrifying moment the 97-yearold Duke’s 4x4 Land Rover Freelander pulled out of a side road and hit them.
She was in the Kia with her friend – who was driving – and the friend’s nine-month-old baby.
The Duke was reported to have said he had been dazzled by the sun – but Emma insists she recalls it being cloudy.
She tells the Mirror: “I’m lucky to be alive and he hasn’t even said sorry.
“It has been such a traumatic and painful time and I would have expected more of the Royal Family.
OVERCAST
“It could have been so much worse. Prince Philip apparently said to a witness that it was the sun that dazzled him but I can’t see how that could be true when it was overcast.”
The accident happened on Thursday near Sandringham – where Emma often visits on Christmas Day to catch a glimpse of the royals.
With her arm in plaster, the shaken mum went on: “I love the royals but I’ve been ignored and rejected and I’m in a lot of pain.
“It would mean the world to me if Prince Philip said sorry but I have no idea if he’s sorry at all.
“What would it have taken for him and the Queen to send me a card and a bunch of flowers?”
Emma claims she received a phone call from police but had heard nothing from the royals or their household.
She says: “I was just advised not to speak to anyone and told to expect a call from the Palace yesterday.
“I know the Queen is a busy lady but I was really excited at the idea she might phone me.
“Instead, I got a call from a police family liaison officer.
“The message he passed on didn’t even make sense. He said, ‘The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would like to be remembered to you.’ That’s not an apology or even a well-wish.”
Emma says she was left confused by the message and unsure what it meant. She adds: “I thought I’d at least have got a note and maybe some flowers but I’ve heard nothing.
“The police haven’t given me any emotional support either.” Emma reveals how the crash came after a year of hell in which she lost her job and her marriage broke down. She had even jokingly texted her mum Helen before the accident, saying: “It’s almost been a week and nothing bad has happened.” Emma adds: “The last year has been very difficult. I’ve had a lot of bad luck but I finally felt my life was going in the right direction.” Emma, from King’s Lynn, Norfolk, felt things were finally looking up for her as she enjoyed a day at the beach in nearby Hunstanton on Thursday. Hours before the accident she and her 28-year-old pal had a coffee, and Emma sent a text to a another friend saying it had been a “slow day” so far.
That was all about to change. They set off for home at around 2.30pm and horror struck just 30 minutes later.
TERRIFIED
Emma recalls: “We could see the Land Rover about 150 yards away from us at a junction, then it started to move.
“The speed limit was 60mph but my friend was doing no more than 50mph. I kept thinking he was going to stop but he didn’t. It all went into slow motion as I watched the other car. As we approached I could make out that it was an elderly driver.
“My friend was braking and seemed so in control but I was terrified.
“But then we crashed. I don’t think the vehicle spun, it just pushed straight across the road.
“Then it was just disbelief. I was in shock.”
In the aftermath of the accident, terrified Emma tells how she repeatedly screamed from the front seat: “Get the baby out!”
She says: “It must have been seconds, but it felt like half a lifetime. I had no idea at that time that it was Prince Philip, I was just thinking of the baby. I don’t think I realised that my side of the car had taken most of the impact.
“A man opened the door and I screamed that there was a baby in the back that needed to get out first.
“But then everyone went over to the other car and I was panicking that they were going to forget about me.
“I felt trapped, it’s so hard to think about now.
“I’d never broken a bone before but I knew my wrist was broken, I was in so much pain.”
Emma was eventually helped from the car by a passerby.
Then witness Victoria Warne, 72,
What would it have taken for him and the Queen to send me a card and some flowers?
EMMA FAIRWEATHER MUM WHO ESCAPED HORROR CRASH
We could see 4x4 and kept thinking it would stop, but it didn’t... I was terrified
CRASH VICTIM EMMA ON THE COLLISION WITH PRINCE PHILIP
told her the identity of the other driver. As Mrs Warne’s husband Roy helped the Duke out of his overturned car, the royal is said to have been heard blaming the dazzling sun for the collision.
Mr Warne has told how he had a small amount of the prince’s blood on his hands – presumed to have been from minor cuts.
Philip’s car flipped over after the collision on the A149 near Babingley, north of King’s Lynn.
Both drivers were breathalysed and gave negative results. Emma says the Duke was treated before leaving the crash scene within 10 minutes.
She says: “I was pacing up and down because the pain was so bad. I feel like the impact of what has happened has been minimised because my injuries aren’t as minor as they are being made out to be. I kept asking, ‘Why is the pain getting worse’?”
As Emma waited to be treated in A&E, hospital TV was already showing footage from the crash scene. Emma, meanwhile, is still hoping the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will reach out to her.
And she says she would forgive Philip if he got in touch. She adds: “I still love him and the Queen. No one can change my views on that.”
Buckingham Palace said last night: “A full message of support was sent to both the driver and the passenger.”