Prince Philip’s life in fast lane may be over
Duke’s days of driving himself in public likely to end
The good news about the accident involving the Duke of Edinburgh, 97, near the Queen’s Sandringham Estate was that no one appears to have been seriously hurt.
The bad news, from Prince Philip’s point of view at least, is that everyone — from his wife, to his insurers, police and the tabloid press — will be advising the old boy to hang up his car keys.
He can afford a chauffeur but knowing him a little, I can tell you the Duke is not likely to welcome advice to slow down.
He’s only 97, after all — still walking without a stick, still living his life his way. As we grow older our worlds tend to shrink and for many older people their car provides their last bit of independence.
The Duke is a realist and a pragmatist. After the shock of last week’s accident, alongside his concern for those in the other vehicle involved, he will recognise his motoring days may be done, on public roads, at least.
It’s another sign that, after retiring from royal duties in 2017, his world is diminishing and it can’t be easy, especially after driving for 80 years and living in the fast lane.
Prince Philip has always enjoyed speed. Though he joined the Royal Navy just before his 18th birthday in 1939, he told me once he was encouraged to follow in the family tradition.
His grandfathers and uncles were all naval men. Left to his own devices, he said, he would have joined the Royal Air Force “without a doubt”. One of the perks of marrying into the British Royal family was that he gained access to every kind of fast and furious flying machine.
Over 45 years, he clocked up a total of 5986 hours of flying in 59 types of aircraft, including nine helicopters (an RAF pilot might clock up 8000 hours in a full career). Flying was one of the great unremarked-on passions of his life.
He began driving in the 30s and I am not sure if he took a driving test — compulsory examinations were only introduced in the mid 30s and if you had learnt to drive in the forces during the war, in certain circumstances you could get a licence without a test).
In any event, as the statistics will tell you, the safest driver is an older driver.
I have been in a car driven by Prince Philip.
He drives well — but he can drive fast. When I first met him in the 70s, he did everything fast; he was a dynamo, though sometimes impatient. His cousin, Countess Mountbatten, told me that her father, Lord Mountbatten, was once driving with the Queen and Prince Philip through Berkshire.
Philip was at the wheel and, according to Mountbatten, driving far too fast. The Queen started drawing in her breath and flinching at the way her husband was driving. Philip turned to her and said: “If you do that once more I shall put you out of the car.”
When the hair-raising journey came to an end, Mountbatten asked the Queen why she hadn’t protested.
“But you heard what he said,” replied the Queen, “and he meant it.”
The Duke has always loved fast cars and long been fascinated by how they work. He used to drive at speed but always with due care and attention and, as he has grown older, he has slowed down, and become more environmentally aware. Long before it was fashionable, he would travel about London in his own electric taxi cab.
He likes to be behind the wheel and in command. Memorably, when the Obamas visited the Queen at Windsor in 2016, Philip, then aged 95 and to the consternation of the presidential security team, drove the president around the estate in his Range Rover, with their wives tucked up in the back.
Inevitably, with age, the Duke’s life has become more circumscribed. He reads a lot , maintains a variety of interests and visits old friends.
He will be 98 in June, and though remarkably robust, he keeps saying he’s falling to pieces. It frustrates him.
If the car crash means he can’t drive himself around anymore, that will frustrate him all the more. At least he can still go carriage driving. I don’t think you need a licence for that.— Telegraph Group Ltd