SOPHIE PRAYERS15 FOR CRASH OAP
Shopper hit by Duchess’ escort
THE Duchess of Edinburgh has sent her “thoughts and prayers” to a woman in her 80s who is fighting for life after being hit by a police motorbike that was escorting the royal.
Sophie, 58, thanked emergency services who helped the shopper after she was thrown 40ft across the street.
Sources said the Duchess was travelling with a police escort featuring motorcycle outriders on the busy road.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Duchess’s heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the injured lady and her family.
“She is grateful for the swift response by the emergency services and will keep abreast of developments. Further comment at this time would not be appropriate while the incident is being investigated.”
A cordon was put around the site of Wednesday afternoon’s crash on the A4 dual carriageway in Earl’s Court, West London. Two bikes could be seen inside it, one of which had the King’s cypher.
Retired antiques dealer Martin Hennessy, 62, who lives nearby, claimed the woman had stepped into the road to peer around screens shielding a junction box.
Locals said the black screens, put in place ahead of the Coronation, were then used to shield the woman from view as emergency workers worked to save her.
Mr Hennessy said: “When you get to the junction you have to step out to see if anything is coming, that’s when she was hit. She’d been thrown across the road, the ambulance was treating her.”
Diana Cetari, 68, who lives on the junction, added: “All her shopping was on the floor and there were screens round her.” The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched a probe. The Met Police said no other injuries were reported, adding: “A police motorcycle on escort duties was involved in a collision with a member of the public. A woman, aged in her 80s, was taken to hospital. She remains there in a critical condition.” Sophie attended the King’s Coronation on Saturday alongside husband Prince Edward and the couple joined the Prince and Princess of Wales to host a Buckingham Palace garden party on Wednesday.
She’d been thrown across the road, the ambulance was treating her
LOCAL MARTIN HENNESSY ON AFTERMATH OF THE ACCIDENT