There’s only one person who can tell him to stop driving. But will she dare?
reason to stop driving. As his former bodyguard says with considerable understatement: ‘He is prone to being very independent. He would often try to drive off without one of us in the passenger seat, it was something of a game. That was all right on the estate, but we weren’t too happy if he tried to go further afield.’
He is a mixture of robust common sense and impetuousness, a man who tends to laugh off concerns about his safety while haring across the countryside with reins in hand, for example.
After a driving career almost eight decades long, Philip has inevitably had the odd prang. Twenty-three years ago, he was involved in a minor shunt while driving in Brandon, Suffolk, after apparently colliding with the back of a Mercedes. Neither he nor the other driver were hurt, and there were no court proceedings.
Yesterday’s accident was clearly of a more serious nature. But will it lead to a royal change of mind? For Philip, the motor car has been an essential part of his life. His very first car was a 1935 Standard which ended up in a private collection in Sri Lanka. He never forgot it, and during a visit to the country in 1956 he tracked it down.
Despite being remarkably fit for a man barely two years away from his century, the Prince is not as mobile as he once was. Even so he can — and often does — walk to the stables at Windsor, where carriage-driving ponies are housed. At Sandringham, where he often spends time at Wood Farm, there is little need for a car.
Since the New Year, Philip and the Queen have been together at Sandringham — she is due back in London after observing the anniversary of her father King George VI’s death ( and her accession to the throne) on February 6.
Philip may return with her, or more likely remain in Norfolk a little longer. The night before the accident, the couple gave a party for estate workers and today they will be hosting a group of Prince Andrew’s friends, who are arriving for a shooting weekend.
Normally, Philip would get behind the wheel to follow the guns during the course of the shoot.
After yesterday the question is, will he? Or will the accident mean that Philip sacrifices one of his last remaining indulgences? Having escaped serious injury, his family — and the nation — will be wishing that he does.
Will he sacrifice one of his last indulgences?