Royals

Queen’s cousin, 83, involved in 96km/h crash months after Prince Philip’s smash

Jun 15, 2019

Prince Edward (pictured right) was driving his Jaguar when the collision took place. Source: Getty.

Less than five months after Prince Philip was involved in a car crash, which received worldwide media attention and led to the Duke of Edinburgh voluntarily surrendering his driving licence, another member of royalty has been involved in a road incident.

The Duke of Kent, 83, is said to have been involved in a collision at 60 miles per hour (96km/h) which took place on a highway in Brighton, UK, earlier this month, reports the Daily Mail.

Prince Edward, who is Her Majesty the Queen’s first cousin, allegedly pulled out in front of a 21-year-old student on the fast-moving A27 road, causing her to slam on her brakes in a bid to avoid slamming into the side of the car.

The 21-year-old neuroscience student told the Mail that the smash, which wrote off her car, left her “badly shaken” and claimed she has not received any correspondence from Buckingham Palace in relation to the incident.

“I was driving north at 60mph and suddenly this Jaguar pulled out in front of me,” she told the news outlet.

“I saw the Jag to my left and it looked like he was going to go, then hesitated and changed his mind and went to go again. He shot across the road. But it was so close that if I hadn’t emergency braked I would have gone straight into the middle of his car.

“As I put on the brakes, my car span towards the central reservation and smashed into it. I clipped the curb and buckled the wheel arch of my car. The airbags went off and there was smoke coming from the engine.”

A palace spokesperson told the news outlet this week that “a royal household vehicle was involved indirectly in a collision on June 2”.

The duke’s involvement in a road traffic accidents comes only a matter of months after Prince Philip caused a crash when he pulled out in front of a female driver close to the Queen’s beloved Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

Philip, 98, was left shaken in January when the car he was driving collided with a Kia carrying two women and a nine-month-old baby. While the duke escaped unhurt, one of the other car’s passengers, Emma Fairweather, broke her wrist.

One month after the crash, the Duke of Edinburgh chose to give up his licence, with a palace spokesperson saying at the time: “After careful consideration The Duke of Edinburgh has taken the decision to voluntarily surrender his driving licence.”

The Queen’s husband also wrote a letter of apology to the injured passenger following the accident, admitting his fault in the collision and wishing her all the best in her recovery.

“I would like you to know how very sorry I am for my part in the accident at the Babingley crossroads,” the letter read, according to the Sunday Mirror. “I have been across that crossing any number of times and I know very well the amount of traffic that uses that main road.

“It was a bright sunny day and at about three in the afternoon, the sun was low over the Wash. In other words, the sun was shining low over the main road.”