End of the road
The Duke of Edinburgh hands in his licence
THE Duke of Edinburgh has given up driving as police passed their file on his crash near the Sandringham estate to prosecutors, it emerged yesterday.
Buckingham Palace announced that the Duke, now 97, voluntarily surrendered his driving licence after “careful consideration”.
It comes almost a month after he was involved in a crash on a crossroads near the Queen’s Norfolk estate in which his Land Rover was overturned.
The collision left the female passenger of a Kia Carens with a broken wrist, while a woman driver and nine-month-old baby boy escaped unharmed from their smoke-filled car.
Norfolk Police have been investigating the crash for three weeks, interviewing witnesses to decide whether it was in the public interest to bring about a prosecution. On Saturday the force said it had sent the file onto the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
A spokesman for Norfolk Police said: “Norfolk Police can confirm that the 97-year-old driver of the Land Rover involved in the collision at Sandringham on Thursday 17 January 2019 has today voluntarily surrendered his licence to officers. We will follow the standard procedure and return the licence to the DVLA. The investigation file for the collision has been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.”
A CPS spokesman said: “We review each file carefully before a decision is made and will take this development into account.” The Duke has already appeared to accept responsibility for the accident, saying in a letter to having been dazzled by the sun.
Yesterday, Buckingham Palace said: “After careful consideration The Duke of Edinburgh has taken the decision to voluntarily surrender his driving licence.”
At the time of the crash, legal experts said that if he surrendered his licence, the Duke would not be required to appear in court.
It is a marked change of heart from the Duke’s original reaction to the crash, which saw him take delivery of a replacement Land Rover the day after the crash and drive it out on the roads around Sandringham without a seat belt.
The accident, on Jan 17, saw the Duke pulled out of his car through the sunroof after it “tumbled” across the A149 and ended on its side. The Duke was reported to have said “I’m such a fool” to a member of the public who had helped him out the car.
The following day, he attended the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn for closer examination, with palace aides saying he had “no injuries of concern”, despite reports of him bleeding. One of the victims of the crash, Emma Fairweather, initially complained about the police handling of the investigation, saying that after four days she had not been contacted by officers for a statement.
The Duke later wrote to the driver and passenger of the other car, telling Ms Fairweather, who broke her wrist: “I would like you to know how very sorry I am for my part in the accident at the Babingley crossroads.
“I have been across that crossing any number of times and I know very well the amount of traffic that uses that main road.
“It was a bright sunny day and at about three in the afternoon, the sun was low over the Wash.
“In other words, the sun was shining low over the main road. In normal conditions I would have no difficulty in seeing traffic coming from the Dersingham direction, but I can only imagine that I failed to see the car coming, and I am very contrite about the consequences. I was somewhat shaken after the accident, but I was greatly relieved that none of you were seriously injured.
“As a crowd was beginning to gather, I was advised to return to Sandringham House by a local Police Officer. I have since learned that you suffered a broken arm. I am deeply sorry about this injury. I wish you a speedy recovery from a very distressing experience.”
The collision happened 18 months after the Duke retired from official royal engagements in August 2017 after had a hip replacement operation in April.
However, since then he had been regularly seen driving both his car and a carriage.
‘We review each file carefully before a decision is made and will take this development into account’