HE GUARDIAN 18 JANUARY 2019 - PRINCE PHILIP HOSPITAL CHECKS AFTER CAR CRASH

The Duke of Edinburgh has undergone hospital checks on his doctor’s advice following his car accident in which two women received minor injuries and a baby escaped unhurt.

Buckingham Palace said Prince Philip, 97, went to the local hospital near the Sandringham estate in Norfolk on Friday, but was found to have no injuries of concern.

Norfolk police are investigating Thursday’s accident and said “appropriate action will be taken”.

In a statement, the palace said: “On doctor’s advice, the Duke of Edinburgh visited the Queen Elizabeth hospital in King’s Lynn this morning for a precautionary check-up. This confirmed His Royal Highness had no injuries of concern. The Duke has returned to Sandringham.” Philip is also said to have been in contact privately with the two women who were injured, and exchanged “well-wishes”.

As Philip recovered at Sandringham on Friday, further details emerged of the collision which left him “very shaken and shocked” , but otherwise uninjured.

Roy Warne, 75, who was driving home, described seeing the prince’s Land Rover Freelander tumbling across the road after the collision, as he pulled out of the B1439 near the Queen’s Norfolk estate on to the A149.

The car flipped on to its side after colliding with a Kia carrying two women and a nine-month-old baby. The women sustained minor injuries and required hospital treatment, but were later discharged, police said.

Both drivers were breath-tested and provided negative readings.

Norfolk police confirmed the baby boy in the Kia was uninjured.

A spokesman said: “The driver of the Kia, a 28-year-old woman, suffered cuts to her knee, while the passenger, a 45-year-old woman, sustained a broken wrist. Both casualties were treated at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in King’s Lynn and were discharged last night.

“As is standard procedure with injury collisions, the incident will be investigated and any appropriate action taken. We are aware of the public interest in this case, however, as with any other investigation, it would be inappropriate to speculate on the causes of the collision until an investigation is carried out.”

Warne told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he and another man helped free the baby from the first vehicle. Warne then helped get the prince out of his wrecked Land Rover.

“I was driving home and I saw a car come out from a side road and it rolled and ended up on the other side of the road, and there was a huge collision with another car,” he said.

He said the prince was trapped with his legs in the well of the car. “I asked him to move his left leg and that freed his right leg and then I helped him get out,” Warne said.

“The roof was where the window should have been because it was on its side. I think I helped him out through either the sunroof or the front windscreen, but I’m a bit blurred about that.”

Asked what the prince had said during the rescue, Warne replied: “I can’t remember, but it was nothing rude. He was obviously shaken, and then he went and asked if everyone else was all right.”

Prince Philip was able to stand and walk, but there was “a little blood”, he said, suggesting the prince had been cut, possibly by broken glass.

Warne said of the crash: “I think there’s no doubt that it was hit [by the prince’s car] . That’s my recollection.”

Of Prince Philip’s vehicle, he said: “I didn’t see it come from the side road. I saw it careering and tumbling across the road and ending up on the other side. It would take a massive force and it had rolled on the other side as well.”

The prince was taken to Sandringham, where he was seen by a doctor as a precautionary measure, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday.

On Friday, Norfolk county council, which coincidentally had been scheduled to discuss safety measures on the A149 where the collision took place, approved plans for the speed limit to be lowered from 60mph to 50mph and to implement an average speed monitoring system.

Older drivers must renew their driving licence every three years after they turn 70, but are not required to retake a driving test, and there are no laws on what age you must stop driving.

Buckingham Palace said: “The Duke of Edinburgh has a valid driving licence and completes all the usual DVLA processes.” It would not give further specifics on the prince’s licence.

The Queen does not have a driving licence, as she is exempt from the law and learned to drive with the army in 1945, when she was 19 and joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the second world war.

Princess Anne, asked by journalists how her father was during an engagement at Edge Hill University in Lancashire on Friday, replied: “No idea. You know where I am? Same place as you.”

If the prince is thought to be liable, he could face prosecution for driving without due care and attention. The lawyer Nick Freeman, known as Mr Loophole, who has represented celebrities prosecuted over alleged traffic offences, said he believed Prince Philip could have a good defence if he blamed being blinded by the sun, as one witness claimed. He could also avoid prosecution by surrendering his licence, Freeman told the Press Association.

“If the sun was so low and right in your eyes, sometimes it is impossible to see, and that may well have been the case and that would afford him a defence,” Freeman said.

The Crown Prosecution Service would consider if it was in the public interest to prosecute, were the royal thought to be at fault, he added. “In my view, even if he’s found to be at fault, I think anyone advising him would contact the CPS and say, look, he now accepts he shouldn’t be driving and he’s going to undertake to surrender his licence and not drive again,” Freeman said.

But the decision had to be balanced with the wishes of those in the other car, he added. “They may say, ‘We don’t care who he is.’ They might think at his age, at his position, he could afford a driver. He’s got all the facilities, he shouldn’t be risking the lives of others. They might push for a prosecution,” Freeman said.

The Crown Prosecution Service would consider if it was in the public interest to prosecute, were the royal thought to be at fault, he added. “In my view, even if he’s found to be at fault, I think anyone advising him would contact the CPS and say, look, he now accepts he shouldn’t be driving and he’s going to undertake to surrender his licence and not drive again,” Freeman said.

But the decision had to be balanced with the wishes of those in the other car, he added. “They may say, ‘We don’t care who he is.’ They might think at his age, at his position, he could afford a driver. He’s got all the facilities, he shouldn’t be risking the lives of others. They might push for a prosecution,” Freeman said.

In 2017, 1,890 drivers aged over 80 were killed or injured in Britain.

As of November 2018 there were 11,624 driving licences held by people aged over 95 in Britain. By Caroline Davies

THE INDEPENDENT FEBRUARY 2019

A woman who was injured in a car accident involving Prince Philip says the roads will be safer now the 97-year-old royal has given up his driver's licence.

Buckingham Palace announced Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, had voluntarily surrendered his licence "after careful consideration”.

Emma Fairweather, who suffered a broken wrist in the 17 January accident, told the Sunday Mirror "it's the right thing to do. Undoubtedly the roads will be safer now”.

Philip was behind the wheel of a Land Rover near the royal family's Sandringham estate when he smashed into another car carrying Ms Fairweather, another woman driving the vehicle, and a 9-month-old baby.

Prosecutors say they will consider Philip's decision as they decide whether to charge him in the crash.

One lawyer had previously suggested the duke could avoid any potential prosecution for driving without due care and attention by giving up his licence.

Philip apologised for his part in the accident in Norfolk when the Land Rover collided with the Kia, leaving the women needing hospital treatment.

On Saturday, a statement from Buckingham Palace said: "After careful consideration, the Duke of Edinburgh has taken the decision to voluntarily surrender his driving licence."

Norfolk Police confirmed Philip had "voluntarily surrendered his licence to officers".

Philip's driving woes began when his car flipped over after he pulled out into a busy A road and collided with the Kia.

He escaped injury, but Ms Fairweather broke her wrist and called for the duke to be prosecuted if he was found to be at a fault.

She told the Sunday Mirror: "It [the decision] won't have been easy for him to make as it is a loss of independence. But he can work around it."

In a letter dated 21 January, Philip wished Ms Fairweather a "speedy recovery" and said he "failed to see the car coming".

He blamed the low, bright sun for obscuring his vision, adding he was "very contrite about the consequences".

The crash did not immediately put Philip off driving.

Wearing tinted glasses, he was photographed at the wheel of a replacement Land Rover while not wearing a seatbelt in the ensuing days.

Philip was roundly criticised and police issued him with "suitable words of advice" and said "any appropriate action" would be taken if necessary.

At the time of the collision, celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman said Philip could face a prosecution for driving without due care and attention, which carries an unlimited fine.

But the lawyer, dubbed Mr Loophole, said the duke could avoid prosecution by surrendering his licence because it would decrease the chances of a case being in the public interest.

AA president Edmund King said the decision to quit driving can be a difficult one.

"Anybody who has had an elderly parent give up their driving licence will know that it can be upsetting for them and normally it's done through common sense and encouragement from family members and their doctor," he said. 

DAILY EXPRESS 15 FEBRUARY 2019 - SHOCKING WARNING ROYAL FAMILY PRINCE PHILIP'S CAR CRASH

PRINCE Philip’s reaction after crashing his Land Rover into a Kia on the Sandringham Estate was to prove he was still fit to drive.

The Royal Family were warned to "downplay" the incident out of fear of him being "stubborn". When he arrived home after the collision, he asked the Queen's private butler for a plaster without revealing the circumstances behind his injury. Philip had not deemed it important to mention he had just been pulled out of his overturned Land Rover on the Sandringham Estate.

Insiders told the Daily Telegraph that the Prince was “genuinely shaken up” by the crash and “furious with himself”.

This shock led the “determined” Prince to take to the wheel the very next day, according to the paper.

Out of fear of losing his independence, the 97-year-old drove without a seatbelt to “prove” he was still up to it despite the hip replacement, glasses and hearing aid.

This stubborn streak meant Philip’s concerned children and grandchildren were warned not to make a fuss, it is reported.

This would explain why Princess Anne had “no idea” how her father was when she was asked two days afterwards.

A source revealed to The Daily Telegraph the family were not even to mention him giving up his licence out of “fear it might make him dig in his heels even more”.

The announcement revealing Prince Philip would relinquish his licence came two days after Norfolk police gave him "suitable words of advice".

But it seems the Duke can still drive around the private royal estates, without the need for an official government-approved driving licence.

Buckingham Palace will be able to drive on royal estates and take the reigns of his horse-drawn carriage in “accordance with all relevant regulations,” but he will not be able to drive on public roads.

A spokesman for British Carriage Driving said: “No license is required. The Duke will be able to continue to carriage drive.”

Royal author Sarah Bradford told of the Duke threatening to kick the Queen out of a car because she complained he was driving “too fast”.

On the eve of his wedding to Princess Elizabeth in 1947, he was stopped for speeding next to Buckingham Palace.

Philip loved driving so much he insisted on driving US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle from their helicopter to Windsor Castle when they came to visit in 2016.

Obama’s secret service is said to have been “terrified” when the then 94-year-old took the wheel.

The then president said later: “I have to say I have never been driven by a Duke of Edinburgh before, but I can report it was very smooth.”

However, the Duke’s reluctance was defeated when police said relinquishing his licence was the best way to avoid prosecution. By Claire Anderson

THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII

Catherine of Aragon

Anne Boleyn

Jane Seymour

Anne of Cleves

Catherine Howard

Catherine Parr

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1087593/royal-news-prince-philip-car-crash-land-rover-sandringham-estate

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prince-philip-car-crash-driving-licence-sandringham-norfolk-emma-fairweather-a8772476.html