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Debris at the scene where the Duke of Edinburgh was involved in a collision near the Sandringham estate on Thursday.
Debris at the scene where the Duke of Edinburgh was involved in a collision near the Sandringham estate on Thursday. Photograph: Chris Radburn/Reuters
Debris at the scene where the Duke of Edinburgh was involved in a collision near the Sandringham estate on Thursday. Photograph: Chris Radburn/Reuters

Prince Philip has not said sorry for car crash, injured woman claims

This article is more than 5 years old

Emma Fairweather has reportedly said she is in a lot of pain after breaking her wrist in the collision but feels ignored

A woman who broke her wrist in a car crash with Prince Philip claims she has not received an apology from the royal family even though she could have been killed.

Emma Fairweather, 46, was a passenger in her unnamed friend’s Kia, along with her friend’s nine-month-old baby, when the collision with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Land Rover Freelander occurred as he pulled out on to the A149 near the Queen’s Norfolk estate on Thursday.

The baby was unhurt and Fairweather’s friend received minor injuries. Buckingham Palace said Philip, 97, went to the local hospital but was found to have no injuries of concern.

Palace officials said contact had been made privately and “well wishes exchanged” but, in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Fairweather said she had not received anything resembling an apology.

“I love the royals but I’ve been ignored and rejected and I’m in a lot of pain,” the mother of two from King’s Lynn, Norfolk, said.

“It would mean the world to me if Prince Philip said sorry but I have no idea if he’s sorry at all. What would it have taken for him and the Queen to send me a card and a bunch of flowers?”

She said she had only had a cryptic message passed on via a police family liaison officer, which said: “The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would like to be remembered to you.”

Fairweather believes all parties were saved from more serious injury by the fact that her friend was driving at no more than 50mph, 10 miles below the speed limit.

“We could see the Land Rover about 150 yards from us at a junction, then it started to move,” she said. “I kept thinking he was going to stop but he didn’t … My friend was braking and seemed so in control but I was terrified.”

She said she was panicking after the incident as everyone flocked towards the other car and she feared she would be forgotten. She said she repeatedly screamed: “Get the baby out.”

Fairweather said she knew straight away that her wrist was broken but feels that reporting of the accident has downplayed her suffering by describing her injuries as minor.

She said that while the talk had focused on Philip’s loss of independence, she had lost hers as she had been signed off from her new job as a support worker for care leavers for two months and her teenage son was having to help her wash and dress.

Buckingham Palace said: “A full message of support was sent to both the driver and the passenger.”

Philip allegedly told onlookers that he was dazzled by the sun but Fairweather cast doubt on his explanation, claiming it was cloudy at the time.

The duke was pictured on Saturday driving a new Land Rover, seemingly without a seatbelt, 48 hours after the crash.

A Norfolk constabulary spokeswoman said the force was aware of the photographs and that “suitable words of advice have been given to the driver”.

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