Duke of hazard: Driving ban for UK coronation organiser

LONDON: The British aristocrat who organised Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral was banned from driving on Monday, despite arguing that he needed his car to arrange King Charles III’s coronation.

Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the duke of Norfolk, was banned for six months after pleading guilty at a magistrates’ court in London to using his mobile phone and running a red light while driving his BMW on April 7.Fitzalan-Howard, the highestranking duke in England who also holds the title the Earl Marshal, had two previous speeding offences in 2019 and faced a compulsory ban after his latest charges.

The 65-year-old duke’s lawyer Natasha Dardashti asked the judge not to implement the ban due to his upcoming role in organising King Charles III’s coronation, expected next year.

“It is an extremely peculiar situation, whereby his grace, the duke of Norfolk... is now the person in the country who is responsible for the coronation of His Royal Highness King Charles III,” she said.

The lawyer applied for a behind-closed-doors hearing to hear details of the argument due to potential national security issues.

“Given it is such an odd situation, and his grace has such a very, very particular and important role in this national coronation of a new king, I would ask this court to sit in camera,” said Dardashti.

But the bench of magistrates rejected the application that he would suffer “exceptional hardship” if he were banned from the roads.

“We accept that this is a unique case because of the defendant’s role in society and in particular in relation to the king’s coronation,” chairwoman of the bench, Judith Wray, said.

“The hardship needs to be exceptional and although we find inconvenience may be caused, we don’t find it exceptional hardship.”

Fitzalan-Howard was responsible for gathering 2,000 people, including world leaders and foreign royals, at London’s Westminster Abbey last Monday for the queen’s funeral, which he spent 20 years organising. — AFP