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'I'M A FOOL'
Shaken Prince Philip cried ‘I’m a fool’ and ‘is everyone all right?’ after crash, says witness
Duke of Edinburgh, 97, groaned after being pulled from the wreckage of his Land Rover, witness claims
PRINCE Philip groaned “I’m such a fool” after being pulled from the wreckage of his Land Rover, a witness revealed.
Victoria Warne, 72, saw his car smash into a Kia carrying a gran, mum and her nine-month-old son. She said: “He asked, ‘Is everyone all right?’ I said, ‘Not really’.”
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Philip, 97, who could be charged over Thursday’s crash near Sandringham, took delivery of a new motor. But the Queen wants him to stop driving.
Last night he personally contacted the mother and daughter injured in the crash with his Land Rover.
The Duke of Edinburgh, 97, is understood to have phoned them to check on their conditions after Thursday’s horrifying collision with their Kia.
Philip, who was treated in hospital for cuts this morning, may now face charges for driving without due care and attention.
Our exclusive photographs of the aftermath show the shocked 28-year-old female driver cradling her unharmed nine-month-old son who was also in the car.
She is sitting in a police patrol vehicle, wrapped in a paramedic’s jacket, with a dressing attached to her right knee.
Her 45-year-old mother also broke her wrist in the crash at Sandringham, Norfolk.
An eyewitness told The Sun how the royal said “I’m such a fool” after her husband pulled him from his wrecked car.
Shaken Philip approached Victoria Warne, 72, after she tended to the injured Kia occupants.
Retired NHS worker Victoria said: “The prince steadied himself for ten minutes after the crash then started worrying about the others.
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“He walked slowly down the path towards the crashed car without his protection officers and said, ‘Is everyone all right?’
“I wasn’t going to lie to him, so I said, ‘Not really’.
“I told him the baby was fine - but we thought the passenger had broken her arm.
“He looked so worried and told me, ‘I’m such a fool’.”
Duke phones injured family
The grandmother of four went on: “The passenger from the other car told me, ‘I always wanted to meet a royal - but not this way’.”
She saw the crash just minutes after she was given the all-clear from breast cancer at hospital in nearby King’s Lynn.
Victoria, in a car with husband Roy, 75, said: “The two women and the boy were coming along the main road and Prince Philip’s car came out of the side road.
“Prince Philip told me later, ‘The sun was low and I couldn’t see’ but he still came out and collided with the ladies’ vehicle.
“It was their right of way. It’s not a fast road but it’s a 60mph speed limit on the A road.
“If you’re coming off the Sandringham estate, as Prince Philip was, he should have stopped but it seems as if he drove straight out into the road. The impact sent him rolling and spinning all over the road.
“The other driver reacted extremely well after the impact and steered her car into the path at the side of the road.”
Police seen crowding around Prince Philip's Land Rover after crash near Sandringham
Hospital doctors check his cuts
Her husband told of his disbelief when Philip appeared to have emerged unscathed.
Barrister Roy was left with Philip’s blood on his hands as he pulled him out of the shattered windscreen.
He said: “I thought the injuries were going to be extremely serious. It was such a relief that nobody was killed. He is lucky to be alive.
“I had his blood on my hands. It wasn’t much and one of the royal people gave me a wipe.”
Victoria, of Thornham, Norfolk, added: “If you ask me there is no question who was at fault, but that doesn’t help anybody. The only thing that matters is no-one was seriously hurt - and that baby will have no recollection of the crash it survived with the Queen’s husband.”
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Buckingham Palace said Philip was taken to hospital this morning on the advice of his doctor. He had cuts and bruises but “no injuries of concern”.
However there were growing calls for the Duke to surrender his driving licence.
Sun columnist Jeremy Clarkson writes: “While I’m very glad that no one was seriously hurt, I’m afraid my reaction was, ‘What the bloody hell is a man of that age doing behind the wheel of a car?’
“Yes, dreary motoring groups always tell us that older drivers are safer than ‘young yobboes’ but I’m not so sure.
“On the same day the Duke had his prang, an inquest heard that a 71-year-old man had died, along with his grandson, while driving round the lowered gates and past the red lights at a level crossing.”
The Queen is likely to be 'annoyed' at Prince Philip after car crash says royal expert Ingrid Seward
Phil may face crash charge
Philip could now be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention. But celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman, known as Mr Loophole, said it was likely he could avoid court by surrendering his licence.
He said: “If you emerge from a minor road onto a major road, you cannot say as a defence that the sun dazzled you. The law requires you to stay put.
“In my view it’s not in the public interest to prosecute him because he’s given his life to serving this country. If he were, he would be looking at three to nine points on his licence or a discretionary ban.”
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Norfolk Police said the incident would be investigated “and any appropriate action taken”.
Meanwhile measures to reduce the crash road’s speed limit to 50mph and install cameras were passed.
A Norfolk County Council meeting in Norwich heard the stretch had been considered dangerous for some time.
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Prince Philip's new Land Rover delivered to Sandringham 24 hours after crash
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