TIME TO CALL IT A DAY, PHILIP?
I’m such a fool, he told crash witnesses as Palace faces pressure to stop duke, 97, driving
Buckingham Palace is under pressure to intervene over Prince Philip’s determination to keep driving despite a horror smash.
Witnesses yesterday said the 97-year-old was left bloodied and had to be freed from his upturned Land Rover after a collision with another car. One said: ‘He looked so worried and told me “I’m such a fool”.
‘The passenger from the other car said “I always wanted to meet a royal – but not this way”.’
A motorist who swerved around the wreckage said Philip was ‘hanging from his seat’ and saying
‘my leg is trapped’. Another said the Duke of Edinburgh was shaking and pleading ‘get me out’. He was alone and without a royal protection officer.
Palace officials admitted last night that the duke was taken to hospital on doctors’ advice, despite initially insisting he was unhurt. It also emerged that a nine-month-old boy was with two women in the car that hit the duke’s vehicle as he pulled out onto a main road near the Queen’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk. No one was seriously injured.
Victoria Warne, whose husband Roy helped rescue the royal, told The Sun: ‘The duke steadied himself for ten minutes after the crash then started worrying about the others.
‘He walked slowly down the path toward the crashed car without his protection officers and said “Is everyone all right?”.
‘I wasn’t going to lie to him so I said “Not really”. I told him the baby was fine – but we thought the passenger had broken her arm.
‘He looked so worried and told me “I’m such a fool”. The passenger from the other car said “I always wanted to meet a royal – but not this way”. The two women and the boy were coming along the main road and Prince Philip’s car came out of the side road. Philip told me later “The sun was low and I couldn’t see” but he still came out and collided with the ladies’ vehicle.
‘It was their right of way. If you’re coming off the Sandringham estate, as Prince Philip was, he should have stopped but it seems as if he drove straight out into the road. The impact sent him rolling and spinning.’
The duke is now facing a police probe over the accident and could be forced to surrender his driving licence. Despite this, a replacement Land Rover Freelander, bearing his distinctive number plate, was delivered to Sandringham yesterday. And, astonishingly, the Queen was later pictured driving on a public road little more than a mile from the scene of the accident without a seatbelt.
Dr Robert Davis of the Road Danger Reduction Forum said: ‘He shouldn’t be driving at 97 – I don’t care if he likes to drive. He has had a crash and should be investigated, charged if necessary and prosecuted.’ Norfolk’s former roads policing chief, Chris Spinks, said there could be no favouritism, adding: ‘He will be dealt with like any other driver.’ Royal sources yesterday said the elderly royal, who is still at Sandringham, was in ‘deep shock’ over the incident.
Family members, including Prince Charles, were ‘worried’ for all parties involved. The Palace would not say whether either the Queen or Prince Charles had tried to persuade Philip to give up driving.
As the full dramatic details of Thursday’s crash became clear it emerged that:
Philip did not have a police officer in the car with him and may not even have had a back-up vehicle following him closely;
Norfolk Police pledged to investigate the crash and take ‘appropriate action’ if the duke is found to have flouted motoring laws;
Legal experts say he could be forced to hand over his driving licence in order to escape prosecution for careless driving;
Officials said the duke had a ‘precautionary’ hospital check-up yesterday but his ‘routine in the coming days would continue as normal’;
Buckingham Palace confirmed contact had been made with the two injured women
and ‘well-wishes exchanged’ but there was no confirmation of any apology.
The two women involved in the crash, the driver aged 28 and a 45-year-old passenger, were taken to hospital, one with a broken wrist, but later discharged. The baby, who was rescued from the Kia’s back seat, appears to have been unhurt.
Norfolk Police said the force would investigate the crash, meaning the duke is likely to be interviewed by officers. A statement said: ‘As is standard procedure with injury collisions, the incident will be investigated and any appropriate action taken.’
Motoring experts said it was likely police would ask Philip to voluntarily surrender his driving licence because of his age.
A royal spokesman said: ‘Contact has been made privately with the passengers in the other car and well-wishes exchanged.’
Under UK law it is compulsory to wear a seatbelt if there is one fitted but the Queen is immune from any civil or criminal proceedings. Buckingham Palace insisted the monarch was careful to ensure she privately complied with the law. When asked if Philip had passed a driving test, a royal spokesman made no comment.