Palace faces questions over why Prince Philip was on his own at time of crash

Prince Philip was driving alone with no bodyguard on board when he crashed and the 97-year-old royal is prone to driving off without security to keep his independence, MailOnline can reveal today.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s collision near Sandringham yesterday raises major security concerns and is a breach of protocol, experts have said.

Roy Warne, 75, the man who pulled the Queen’s husband out of his written-off Land Rover, has revealed there was no royal protection officer in the car with Prince Philip when he crashed with a Kia.

It is understood the security team followed in a car behind and arrived ‘very quickly’, but only once Philip had been dragged to safety from his written-off Land Rover.

But outside the gates of their private estates the royal family should always have a bodyguard next to them, Princess Diana’s former security chief Ken Wharfe has said.

Mr Wharfe, who served in the Met for 35 years, told MailOnline Prince Philip has a reputation for giving his police protection officers the runaround and has been known to tell them: ‘I don’t need you – leave me alone’.

Prince Philip has been involved in a car crash close to the Sandringham Estate but had not bodyguard next to him, which is a breach of protocol according to Princess Diana’s personal protection officer Ken Wharfe

Prince Philip arriving at church in Sandringham last year accompanied by a bodyguard

Prince Philip is ‘conscious but very shocked and shaken’ after a dramatic crash near his Sandringham Estate which left two women in the other vehicle in hospital and the Land Rover he was driving on its side in a crumpled heap (pictured here) 

Philip is believed to have just left Sandringham, circled red, and was turning on to the A149  at this junction when he collided with a Kia and his car cartwheeled on to the other side of the road, circled blue

He said: ‘The Yard has questions to answer because officers need to be able to stand up to him – I’m convinced that if a PPO was in the Land Rover with him the crash wouldn’t have happened’. 

Ken Wharfe protected Princess Diana for six years (pictured together in 1992) until around four years before her death in 1997

He added: ‘The Queen may drive alone on the estate from time to time but she would never leave the gates without an officer with her in the car an back up behind.

‘She was be absolutely livid – firstly through concern for her husband and second that there have been two people injured with a baby on board and it could have been much worse’.

Mr Wharfe, a former SAS trained officer who Prince William and Prince Henry affectionately called ‘Uncle Ken’, protected their mother the Princess of Wales from 1987 to 1993.

He told MailOnline today: ‘The Duke of Edinburgh is known to be very difficult when it comes to personal protection officers (PPO), especially in a holiday environment like Sandringham.

‘I know he would say things like ‘I don’t need you, leave me alone, I’m fine on my own’ – and could take off without them. 

‘I suspect he has decided to drive to see a friend off the estate and just left. The security team will have been forced to jump in a car, followed and then be completely horrified as they came across the crash.

’99 times out of 100 nothing would happen of he went on his own – but when it does go wrong it’s often a complete disaster, as proved here’. 

Mr Wharfe said previously senior royals each had their own personal protection units – but this has been changed to a rota system where officers are allocated to different members of the royal family.

He said: ‘In the past you would have officers with decades of experience who would know how to deal with the Duke and convince him they should be with him when he drives. That’s all gone’.