Woman in Crash With Prince No Fan of Message She Got

Emma Fairweather said it 'didn't even make sense'
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 20, 2019 6:00 AM CST
Another Driving Incident for Prince Philip
In this Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016 file photo, Britain's Prince Philip waves to the public as he leaves after attending a Christmas day church service in Sandringham, England. Buckingham Palace says Prince Philip the husband of Queen Elizabeth II had been in a traffic accident and is not injured. The palace...   (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file)

Another ding on Prince Philip's driving record. Two days after the 97-year-old's Land Rover Freelander collided with a Kia and ended up on its side, British tabloids published photos showing the Duke of Edinburgh behind the wheel of a new Land Rover on Saturday—without his seat belt on. The BBC reports British law states that drivers must wear seat belts in nearly all circumstances, and after being made aware of the photos, a rep for Norfolk Police said they had spoken to Philip. "Suitable words of advice have been given to the driver," says the rep. "This is in line with our standard response when being made aware of such images showing this type of offense."

As for one of the women in the Kia, Emma Fairweather told the Mirror that the response from the palace has been insufficient and somewhat inscrutable. While a palace rep said "well-wishes" had been passed along, and Buckingham Palace added a "full message of support was sent to both the driver and the passenger," Fairweather says that's not what she got. Noting she's "lucky to be alive" (she suffered a broken wrist) she says she didn't even receive an apology. What she did get, via a call from a police family liaison officer, "didn't even make sense. He said, 'The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would like to be remembered to you.' That's not an apology or even a well-wish." The accident, which the AP terms a "violent collision," is still under investigation and no charges have been filed. (More Prince Philip stories.)

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