Lesson not quite learned. Prince Philip was spotted driving without wearing a seatbelt 48 hours after he was involved in a car accident that left two women injured.
The Duke of Edinburgh, 97, drove his new Land Rover on Saturday, January 19, close to Sandringham estate, near where the collision took place, in photos obtained by Daily Mail. The royal was not wearing a safety strap. The Guardian reports that the royal was warned by police after the pictures surfaced.
“The road that the accident occurred on is notorious for accidents, all related to speed. Prince Philip had been on a smaller side road, going onto the bigger road, and was looking into the sun and obviously didn’t see the other car coming when he pulled out,” Queen Elizabeth II‘s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter told Us Weekly exclusively on Friday, January 18, before Philip’s latest excursion. “The local authorities are looking into lowering the speed limit because of the number of accidents.”
A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said in a statement to Us Weekly that the prince “was not injured” in the two-car wreck on Thursday, January 17.
The people in the other vehicle, however, were wounded. Norfolk police confirmed to Us that the 28-year-old driver and the 45-year-old passenger of the other vehicle were treated for cuts to the knee and a broken wrist, respectively. The authorities also told Us that a 9-month-old baby boy was in the Kia when the accident happened, but he was not injured. All victims have been discharged from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn.
Emma Fairweather, who broke her wrist in the accident, told The Mirror on Sunday that the prince and Buckingham Palace haven’t reached out to check on her condition. “It would mean the world to me if Prince Philip said sorry,” she told the newspaper.
The queen was spotted engaging in the same risky behavior as Philip after the accident. The monarch, 92, who is known for having a “heavy right foot,” according to Arbiter, went for a drive 24 hours after her husband’s unfortunate incident and neglected her safety strap as well.
