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Prince Philip is 97 years old and definitely in a position in which he can afford to go out only in chauffeured rides, but until the other day, he still chose to drive himself. That might change soon, in light of the accident he caused near the Sandringham Estate, one of the Royal residencies.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Land Rover Freelander 2 was T-boned by a Kia at a junction and flipped to the driver side. As it slid on the road, the car then flipped again and ended on the passenger side, but miraculously, the Duke wasn’t harmed. The women in the Kia received only minor injuries, and a toddler strapped in a carseat wasn’t hurt at all.
The Prince told the first witness on the scene, who also rushed to take him out of the wreck, that he had been “dazzled by the sun,” so he didn’t see the Kia coming. Still, according to Nick Freeman, an attorney who earned for himself the moniker of “Mr. Loophole,” he could face charges for causing the crash, Metro reports.
There are only a couple of situations in which the Prince would walk away without being charged: number one, he could agree to surrender his license (which would be very easy for him to do), and number two, prosecutors could decide it wouldn’t be in the public’s best interest to pursue the matter, since whatever fine the Prince received would go out of the public’s pocket.
Nonetheless, a possible charge of driving without due care and attention is hanging over the Prince’s head.
“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 license and not drive again,” Freeman says. “I think on that basis it would not be in the public interest to prosecute.”
“They might say, ‘We don’t care who he is’,” he adds. “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 prosecution.”
There is a precedent for members of the Royal Family being prosecuted for driving offenses, but the Prince himself was never among them. The accident has also reopened the debate on whether there should be an age limit for elderly drivers.
The Prince told the first witness on the scene, who also rushed to take him out of the wreck, that he had been “dazzled by the sun,” so he didn’t see the Kia coming. Still, according to Nick Freeman, an attorney who earned for himself the moniker of “Mr. Loophole,” he could face charges for causing the crash, Metro reports.
There are only a couple of situations in which the Prince would walk away without being charged: number one, he could agree to surrender his license (which would be very easy for him to do), and number two, prosecutors could decide it wouldn’t be in the public’s best interest to pursue the matter, since whatever fine the Prince received would go out of the public’s pocket.
Nonetheless, a possible charge of driving without due care and attention is hanging over the Prince’s head.
“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 license and not drive again,” Freeman says. “I think on that basis it would not be in the public interest to prosecute.”
“They might say, ‘We don’t care who he is’,” he adds. “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 prosecution.”
There is a precedent for members of the Royal Family being prosecuted for driving offenses, but the Prince himself was never among them. The accident has also reopened the debate on whether there should be an age limit for elderly drivers.
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