On Thursday, Prince Philip got into a car accident close to the Sandringham estate. He reportedly caused the accident which left his Range Rover and a Kia totaled. The accident also left two women (in the Kia) hospitalized with cuts and bruises. It felt like this whole thing was handled really badly from a PR perspective – the royal family hasn’t made any kind of move to check up on the injured women, there was no mention for like 12-plus hours of the fact that a baby was in the Kia too, and the day after the accident, a shiny new Range Rover was delivered to Sandringham. Philip is 97 years old and he has no business behind the wheel of any car, especially not days after he caused a major car crash. But that’s what has happened:
A mother-of-two who broke her wrist after being involved in a shocking car crash with Prince Philip on Thursday has revealed how she is ‘lucky to be alive’ after the collision and that the Duke of Edinburgh is yet to apologise to her. Emma Fairweather, 45, was a passenger in the Kia involved and has told friends that she is ‘unhappy’ with the way Buckingham Palace has handled the accident, which took place close to Sandringham estate in Norfolk. She added that she has heard nothing from the palace, despite officials previously saying that contact had been made and well wishes exchanged.
Prince Philip was earlier spotted behind the wheel of his brand new Land Rover today just two days after flipping his car in a horror crash. In photos taken by MailOnline, The Duke of Edinburgh, 97, can be seen driving into the main entrance gate to the Sandringham estate on his own without a seatbelt on Saturday afternoon.
I TOLD YOU that there are a lot of older folks out there who don’t wear their seatbelts. There’s a weird anti-seatbelt culture with a certain generation. And yes, Philip was behind the wheel – you can see him clearly in the Daily Mail’s photos on Saturday. Bad move. Especially given that the palace courtiers and official royalists are trying to make it sound like Philip will “reluctantly accept” the need to stop driving:
Prince Philip will reluctantly accept that he has to give up driving in public if he is advised to do so following the car crash he was involved in on Thursday, according to friend and biographer Gyles Brandreth.
“He is a pragmatist and a realist and I’m sure he will accept that while possibly muttering under his breath,” Brandreth tells PEOPLE. But the end of driving on public roads (he would still likely drive around the royal estates) would be “frustrating” for the 97-year-old Duke of Edinburgh. “One of the frustrations of getting older is your world is shrinking. And his life has become more circumscribed,” Brandreth told BBC Radio Four’s Today program Friday.
“He visits old friends but it’s frustrating as you grow older to find your world is getting smaller. The independence for an old person to be able to get into their car and just go down the road is a wonderful thing.”
Asked how the Duke would react to being asked “slow down” in his life, Brandreth – the author of Philip and Elizabeth: A Portrait of a Royal Marriage – said, “I’m not sure he will react too well to that. Everyone will be telling him to slow down – from his wife, to his insurers to the Norfolk constabulary. Knowing him a little, I don’t think he is going to welcome advice to slow down.”
“He is 97 – and still walking without a stick, still carriage driving and still living his life his way. I’m sure this morning, as well as being grateful he’s survived, he will be concerned for the other people involved and shaken by this experience.”
Yeah, apparently not? Prince Philip “do what he want.” And that includes getting behind the wheel of his shiny new replacement Range Rover and driving around without a seatbelt. Who’s going to stop him? The Queen? She was seen driving without her motherf–king seatbelt this week too!! Someone get them BOTH off the road. Also: can we stop playing tiny violins for Philip’s rough life? He’s retired, he has tons of security and helpers/minders, any of whom are much more qualified to drive.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
This is a PR disaster for the Royal family
apparently Prince Philip hasn’t even apologised yet to the woman in the other car too :s
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/20/prince-philip-has-not-said-sorry-for-car-crash-injured-woman-claims
I dunno if you should apologise per se…. for legal reasons
He probably shouldn’t apologise, but equally BP should not issue statements saying that “contact had been made privately and well wishes exchanged” when that contact came from a police liaison officer and not Prince Philip.
The interview with the victim , the photographs driving the new vehicle etc is bad press for them and I’m wondering how it will be handled especially given the smear job on Meghan later in the Fall where no effort was made to deny the deluge of stories about her character. Also I don’t think he has any intention of giving up driving or wearing a seatbelt.
FFS! Take away the keys. These people are so pampered, heaven forbid a 97 year old man should feel “frustrated” because he can’t drive.
+1
Right? Poooor ole racist Phil will have to have one of his hundreds of minions drive him around! Oh noooooo! It’s not as if he almost killed 2 women and a baby with his shitty driving…
These people.
I hope some of my ire for the bed makes a little more sense to some of the more ardent William/Harry supporters around here. You may like their public persona, but they are all heads of the same, selfish and entitled beast.
He has behaved really quite obnoxiously over this whole affair.
Well, he’s always been obnoxious insufferable spoiled racist brat, why do people expect him to change now?
Thank you.
+1
Could you even imagine what the Mail would be like if Megan was pictured without a seatbelt??? The way the newspapers are handling this is quite shocking.
Hmmm, the DM’s main story is about one of the passengers in the Kia involved in the crash. Both the article and the comments are quite critical of Prince Philip’s behavior…
You’re right, today they have been very critical. I guess I was thinking of previously when it was all about how he was asking if they were ok.
You know Meghan ALWAYS wears her seatbelt. I bet she even “makes” Harry wear one, the big meanie!
.
The queen was also seen without a seatbelt on either.
“the royal family hasn’t made any kind of move to check up on the injured women”.
Prince Philip isn’t amune to prosecution so the royal family not contacting the women makes sense since this is a normal accident.
Actually he did – it was reported that he spoke to the women the day after the accident – was confirmed by the Palace.
The woman (and there were two involved so both should have been contacted) said he didn’t. I’ll take her word over palace officials whose job is to protect the royals.
One of the passengers is saying now that the only contact she had with the palace was via a police liaison who said that TQ and Phillip asked to be remembered to her. FFS and we give Poor Jason a bad time. Don’t say you’ve been in touch when you have not!
To be fair the case is still under investigation, and when accidents happen the contact is usually between the lawyers and insurance companies.
Besides the fact that this is an idiotic PR move, can you imagine the scandal if this was Kate or Meghan???? People would be basically asking for their heads
I think with elderly people are more forgiving. But if he is not stopped now driving there should be outrage.
So true. And the whining about KP’s PR would never end. Nor would the [other Duchess] would NEVER do that.
The public have always been extraordinarily forgiving of Racist Phil – the number of times e has made inexcusable racist comments that have been laughed off as ‘gaffes’ is just one example. He has historically been protected by the Queen and as a result by the media. He has gotten away with shit that literally anyother public person would have been crucified for – I hope this is the end of it.
I really don’t see his problem, there are MANY aids around him who would willingly drive him anywhere he wants to go at any time! It’s not like he going to be stuck in the castle. . . .
😐
No fool like an old fool…although he behaves like an entitled brat.
My friend’s grandfather, who is around his 80s, refuses to give up driving as well. Just the other day my friend was telling me how he has a terrible eyesight and doesn’t hear properly as well but won’t give up his license. His family made him stop once and he got depressed. So I think for older people to quit driving is sort of a way of feeling even older, feeling that you are not capable anymore. I understand it but still think you shouldn’t be allowed to drive past a certain age.
In Philip’s case add that to the entitlement of being a Royal and just getting a brand new car when you crash yours.
but he can easily afford a driver – unlike “normal” older people. So I have zero tolerance for his reckless behavior.
I think it’s still about independence that you can take care of yourself when you are older. My grandfather could have gotten about 20 free taxi tickets a month (I don’t recall if it was 20 for him alone or combined for him and my grandmother) form our city and my mother could have driven long distance. But he rather drove as long as he got his livence renewed.
Hopefully someone stops Philip form driving. Like my grandfather I can’t see him doing it voluntarily.
My grandfather was strongly opposed to giving up driving. All his friends had predeceased him and the freedom to drive was a great comfort to him – until the day he had a very minor fender bender with a woman who was pregnant. That was it for him, he never wanted to be a risk to anyone else. If old-timers won’t or can’t adopt modern rules of respect and civic-mindedness, they should at least follow outdated rules of chivalry. The fact that there was a baby in that car and Phillip was out driving public roads within 2 days shows he isn’t half the gentleman that my grandfather was.
My widowed, then 80 year-old MIL gave up driving when a niece-in-law politely explained that she (my MIL) would feel terrible if she injured someone. Had one of the children attempted the same conversation, it would have resulted in petulance. However, the sons were going to disconnect the battery if necessary.
An 86-year-old woman in our area was sentenced to prison over a fatal wreck where she was clearly at fault, so that has helped illustrate that age doesn’t give a person a free pass for responsibility.
I think some “regular” people avoid the possible argument, and/or don’t want to have to pick up the transportation responsibility for the elderly person.
It isn’t surprising but it is absolutely ridiculous that he is behind the wheel again.
Um, this is beyond dangerous. With his advanced age, he could pass away at any moment….even while driving. If he wants to keep driving, give him a golf cart. Something that serves the same purpose but smaller.
Second this. He could die at any moment by the looks of him.
Oh and on a public road. His health won’t permit him to “work” which just amounts to shaking hands and waving, but he’s totally okay behind the wheel of a car. Okay.
Exactly this. If he’s that frail he needs to be driven.
Driving isn’t that hard, his “work” might not be physical but would require a lot of standing and not resting when he feels tired and there are more than enough royals to shake hands.
Driving requires hyper- awareness and the ability to respond quickly. You’re in charge of multi-ton death machines. He clearly can’t, as evidenced by the accident HE caused in which he totalled two cars.
If driving was so easy it wouldn’t require education, testing, licensing, and insurance coverage.
Mrs Banjo, I didn’t say he should drive but that he is currently driving isn’t proof he should be working.
For those of you who live in the UK, how do things like this work? What will happen next? Will there be an investigation, and is it possible that PP will lose his license and/or face some sort of criminal repurcussions if the accident is officially found to be his fault (which it clearly was)?
I honestly can’t believe that he was so arrogant as to start driving again less than 48 hours after this mess, on public roads (!!), and without a seatbelt! I get that he’s stubborn, but at this point his keys need to be confiscated and locked away from him. I’m sorry but who cares if he likes it or not; he is a danger to other innocent people out on the roads. SMH
At the very least, one would expect he would have the good sense to lay low for a while, until this story was no longer a headline. It really seems as if he’s giving a “FU” to everyone who is pointing out he is simply too old to be driving around by himself on public roads. The Queen should really put her foot down before anyone else gets hurt.
Yes it entirely possible the DVLA (Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency) could revoke his license, they have the power to do that and they should.
Good. Hopefully Kaiser will keep us posted on any new developments!
It is truly galling that he went right back out on public roads again with no seatbelt. For God’s sake. He may not care but it is terrible PR for the monarchy so he *should* care.
I’m not sure how car insurance works in Britain, but can they not refuse to insure him? It’s illegal to drive without insurance here.
Not wearing a seat belt is illegal in itself so at the very minimum he should be punished for that… And that’s before I even get to the repercussions for the crash.
I’m not entirely sure where the photos were taken, but if it’s private property you do not have to wear seatbelts. It’s only mandatory on the public highway.
Why wasn’t his license revoked?
He doesn’t have one. I believe, and someone can correct me, but I think he nor the Queen have to have a license which is crazy!
Pretty shocking!
🤭
The Queen doesn’t have a licence because all driving licences are issued on behalf of her (same goes for passports). But Prince Phillip and the rest of the royal family need to have driving licences to drive otherwise they will be prosecuted.
I read an article where Philip’s friend and biographer weighed in on the situation and the man actually said that he thinks that Philip has never sat for a driver’s test!
He looks like he cryptkeeper behind the wheel. What a sight that must be as he mows you down
😂😂😂
Omg I never comment, but this made me laugh so hard 😂😂😂😂😂😂
HaHa, I was thinking he looked more like Nosferatu.
😂 😂
Oh lord, I have the mental image, cackle and all. XD
Funniest comment ever! Lol
LOL!
What an ahole!! Aren’t these people supposed to have protection officers at all times? Where are they and why can’t they stop him from driving? Maybe that’s not part of the job description but I’m confused why he’s even in the car alone.
Ugh. This bit in a BBC online story:
“[The passenger in the other vehicle] said she had not heard from the royal household but had got a call from a police family liaison officer. ‘The message he passed on didn’t even make sense. He said, “The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would like to be remembered to you,”‘ she said. ‘That’s not an apology or even a well-wish.'”
If that is the case, ugh.
There should be no contact because the matter is under investigation.
That’s true, but it was misreported by all the major media outlets. That means that BP lied about it, or at the very least was extremely disingenuous.
At first a had a little sympathy for him, having witnessed my husband’s family’s struggle to get grandpa to give up driving (in his 90s). But after this ,hell no. He is not some elderly stuck in the middle of nowhere, with the nearest food shop and medical facilities at least half an hours drive away.
Dear lord , he has so many people surrounding him, surely one of them could drive him.
Are they waiting for him to kill himself or others next time?
Exactly My point too!
Good grief!
🙈
When he kills someone, then what?
Prince Philip and the Queen both have a lot of hubris to behave like this. It is totally ridiculous that they are in their 90s and they are driving on public roads. It especially looks like a big middle finger to the three people who were hit in his accident. It is really galling of them.
I’ve never noticed any of the royals using their seatbelts, at least not the shoulder belt which could clearly be seen as they approach their engagements.
I thought that too, but I think most of the time when we see them driving, it’s on their own property, not public roads. I did however see Liz out without hers the other day.
Breaking a wrist in your forties, which is what happened to the passenger, can accelerate the onset of arthritis in that joint. The driver is reportedly 28 but knee injuries can also be chronic, even at that age. I cannot BELIEVE the BP press office said that the royals had contacted the victims and “exchanged well wishes” when they did NOT.
Phillip has always done what he wants, damn the consequences, but this is beyond stupid.
Years ago, I was at my local dmv renewing my DL and witnessed an elderly man there legally turning in his driver’s license. He was there with his adult children. It was awful to watch. The elderly man was clearly upset about it but was trying to stay strong. I could tell it was so final for him and meant he was one more thing he was losing due to his age. Like, a sign of his impending death. I know that sounds dramatic but it was dramatic and sad. It always stuck with me and still makes me sad and I didn’t even know these people. However, it needed to be done. The man I saw seemed more capable of driving than Philip. Philip is 97 and I can’t imagine that his reflexes are good enough to be behind the wheel of a car. Take those keys away before he kills someone.
Witnessed something very similar. A very sweet, older man getting re-tested after a stroke. He was fine until he bumped one cone parallel parking and the guy testing him was shouting and screaming at him. Just pure evil.
He clearly should not be driving. This is stupid! Also, I refuse to put my SUV in drive until every single adult or kid is in a seatbelt. LOL sorry not sorry. As the driver I have the right to make that decision. If you don’t like it, find another ride. Had an argument with an adult once and I said ‘I don’t care if you are in the 3rd row and think you are ‘safe’, my babies are in this car and if we roll over your decapitated head might injure one of them.’ LOL They caught me on a bad day but I got my point across and the seatbelt was buckled.
You absolutely have that right as the driver. I do the same.
It used to be that the driver got nailed when someone in the car wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Now the individual without one is the one who gets fined, here in BC. It’s a fine of $167.
My truck also doesn’t move without everyone being belted.
My brother was in a single car crash this morning. No seatbelt. He was thrown into the back seat. So a head alone could do the same.
What is worse is the police investigation. When the video came out the cops didn’t fine Philip; the let him off with a warning. Who is going to trust the integrity of the results if Philip is cleared?
Even worse – the Markles have been handed a gift to needle the royals with. Jr was charged with drunk driving immediately after he failed a field sobriety test. He went to a detox center but he will most likely go to court for it. A quick wake up that Meghan’s marriage will not make them immune from law enforcement (see fixated person Samantha). They will go to the Fail and weigh in, screeching that the royals can’t look down on them given what has happened. More bad press because that would get traction.
That’s quite a stretch. Why would they think they could get away with a drunk driving charge in the States just because Meghan married a British Royal?
What’s at issue here is an elderly man driving well past the age he should have stopped, plus the utter tone deaf response to the recent accident he caused.
Same for TQ. Wear your seatbelts, people! I don’t care where you’re driving or how slow you’re driving, it matters!
Actually there are regulations about driving for people above the age of 75 in the UK. You have to qualify to be fit to drive every 3 years. Let’s not be so quick to lambast seniors for driving when they have been qualified as fit to do so. My Dad is 85 and still drives well. Long may that continue.
That’s a bit of a stretch.
Very bad optics for the queen to be driving without a seat belt too. I bet the woman with the broken wrist isn’t driving. Can you drive with a broken wrist?
Can one drive with one hand?
Yes with difficulty
I remember visiting a friend’s grandparents when we were in high school. Her grandfather only drove one-handed because of a previous stroke. I still remember those left-hand turns. Made me very nervous.
How difficult would it be for the ladies to bring a civil suit against The Firm? I know the UK isn’t as litigious as we are here in the USA, but there is a cottage industry in these kinds of cases.
The mood in the UK is so febrile at the moment that it wouldn’t take much for this whole story to go very wrong for the RF. I think our tolerance levels for entitled arrogant pricks (hello Cameron, Rees-Mogg, Johnson etc) are pretty low at the moment so this is rapidly turning into a PR disaster.
My grandmothers also hated putting their seatbelts on. My grandpa was fine with it. My 70 year old aunt and her friends think that if you sit in back, you don’t have to wear to a seatbelt and refuse to believe it otherwise. My grandmother, when she was 92, thought she could drive. She’s been a speed demon all her life. Luckily her kids knew otherwise and even though my grandma talked about how she could still drive and stuff, her kids saw to it that she didn’t. My grandpa was very independent and hated having people to stuff for him. I always offered to drive him (it’s only fair, he used to pick me up from school when I was little). But instead he chose to take the bus.
I noticed on the thread the other day that people kept saying it’s ageist to say old shouldn’t be able to legally drive over a certain age. But how is that more ageist to say that you can’t drive before 16 or 18?
Of course this is reprehensible behavior that is endangering the lives of anyone on the roads there. There is a tiny part of me however that is glad another royal stepped up to receive the tabloid pitchforks, giving Meghan a slight reprieve. There is less of a chance that Thomas Markle will be making a plea to QEll to mend some ludicrous BS when Prince Philip is out there rolling over Range Rovers and endangering the lives of the people in Norfolk. In my mind’s eye I’m picturing QEll saying “you’re welcome” to Meghan every time she doesn’t buckle up.
I think it is in Japan where it is mandatory to paste a special sticker in your car it you are an older driver, an inexperienced driver (less than a year withyour license), have some impairment, sometjinglike that. At least that gives other deivers a small window of opportunity to react around you, but not in every case.
Here yhe seatbelt, well, if he were the only one paying for his injuries, but having a seatbelt on can help you to keep control of your vehicle, and I guess in his case, tax payers will be paying the hispital. When do they use their own money and when do they use the taxpayers money? I am asking too because of so many complains lately.
In Argentina we have to drive with a mandatory “P” sticker, which means “principiante” (beginner) for a whole year. We can’t drive on avenues or highways/motorways. It sucks, but it’s mandatory until you have real experience behind the wheel. We’re now being fined if caught driving in flip-flops.
What a giant F U to not only drive again, but also seated in a brand new vehicle.
So true.
Just saw a snl clip on Twitter about John Mulaney and Pete Davidson reviewing the new Clint Eastwood movie and made me think of this story. Apparently the movie is about a 90 year old drug runner and how he’s the best driver. 🙄
Dude is obviously going through some late-in-life crisis where he’s all about adrenaline. Just do what George Bush Sr did and skydive or something. Drink some super strong tea and play naked cricket on the Moors. Fly on a trapeze eating scones. What do English gentlemen pushing 100 do for kicks?
This was the perfect opportunity for someone (family, police) to say “enough” but instead they simply order him a new car which arrives next day. He is clearly being enabled, and those enablers, if he kills someone , should be held responsible for that.
Are those glasses or telescopes? Get this man off the road.
Fore some reason one of my comments was not published but Philip actually has a LONG history of reckless driving. There are quite a number of stories of him having crashed into other drivers or having had near misses. This goes back DECADES!
It isn’t just about him being too old to drive – he has ALWAYS been irresponsible behind the wheel and he has been involved in numerous incidents going back to the 1940!!
How is he still alive?? Look at him. Imagine seeing that guy driving around. He looks like the grim reaper.
Apparently he was dazzled by the sun; that’s how it’s being explained away. If you’re dazzled by the sun and about to join a main road, logic and driving procedure indicate you should stop driving until you can see, clearly, if you can join said road without danger. So now we should all discuss whether he is in the right mind to be driving AT ALL.
Good PR, there, BP.
No seatbelts? Did they not learn anything from Diana’s death? You would think after that, they’d all be seatbelt obsessed.
Seriously, the senior royals are.. for me it’s a PR disaster. he went from being seen a sickly old men to.. we all know what, irresponsible..
Hang it up you racist old fart.
I cant stomach Geminis.
And, I am one.