Royal courtiers finally got a goodwill message to one of Prince Philip’s car crash victims last night – three days late.
Amid mounting anger at his failure to apologise to the two women injured, Buckingham Palace said contact had at last been made.
After a farcical failure to get in touch last week, the Queen’s private office scrambled to make amends over the weekend by trying to call the victims, yet was still unable to confirm if the duke had actually apologised.
The women and a nine-month-old baby survived when 97-year-old Philip drove into the path of their car on Thursday, sending his Land Rover somersaulting.
Prince Philip was spotted behind the wheel of a new Land Rover- days after his car crash
Emma Fairweather, whose wrist was broken in the horror smash, said on Sunday: ‘I’m lucky to be alive and he hasn’t even said sorry. It has been such a traumatic and painful time and I would have expected more of the Royal Family.’
The duke took delivery of a new Land Rover less than 24 hours after the crash, and on Saturday he was back behind the wheel.
Astonishingly, he was not wearing a seatbelt, earning him a rebuke from police.
As anger at his attitude grows, the Daily Mail can reveal Miss Fairweather came under huge pressure to ‘keep quiet’, being urged ‘more than ten times’ to be discreet by police liaison officers.
A friend said: ‘Her arm is in plaster and she been through a traumatic ordeal but she said the main objective seemed to be to keep her quiet, and keep her out of the way of the media.’
Emma Fairweather, 46, was involved in the road traffic incident collision with HRH Prince Philip
A turning point came on Friday after the palace issued a statement claiming ‘well-wishes’ had been ‘exchanged’.
The friend said: ‘That is when she made her decision not to keep quiet any more.
‘Things were being said that just weren’t true. She is very loyal to the Royal Family but she had genuinely imagined that just a little bit more consideration could have been shown towards her.’
The overturned SUV that was bring driven by 97-year-old Prince Philip after the crash
Miss Fairweather, who turned 46 yesterday, told the Sunday Mirror: ‘I love the royals but I’ve been ignored and rejected and I’m in a lot of pain.
‘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?’
Royal sources insisted the palace had made strenuous attempts to get in touch with the victims.
A ‘goodwill message’ was passed through a police liaison officer on Friday as that was considered to be the most appropriate way to communicate.
On Saturday, members of the Queen’s private office made several attempts to contact them personally but were apparently unsuccessful.
Further attempts were made yesterday, with one of the women finally being reached last night. The palace would not reveal which one, but said: ‘A full message of support was sent to both the driver and passenger.’
Miss Fairweather, a support worker and mother of two, said message that came through police on Friday said: ‘The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would like to be remembered to you.’ She said: ‘That’s not an apology or even a well-wish.’
Miss Fairweather was the passenger in the Kia being driven by her 28-year-old friend, whose baby boy was strapped in the back seat.
As they drove along the A149 near Sandringham, the duke – who later said he had been dazzled by the low afternoon sun – pulled out of a side road and they struck his Land Rover side-on.
His armoured Freelander spun, flipped and careered across the carriageway, while the mangled Kia flew into a hedge.
Miss Fairweather, of King’s Lynn, Norfolk, said she ‘couldn’t stop screaming’ as the collision unfolded ‘in slow motion’.
She said: ‘I kept thinking he was going to stop but he didn’t.’ She remembers shouting: ‘Get the baby out!’ as a man came to help them, but after the little boy was rescued, everyone concentrated on the other car because it was on its side.
Miss Fairweather added: ‘Someone told me Prince Philip had been keen to talk to me, but a number of people advised him against it.’
But after she saw Philip had a new car delivered less than 24 hours after the crash, she said: ‘This has upset me.’
She added it was ‘disgusting’ to see him driving without a seatbelt on Saturday and asked if he should be allowed to continue driving.
The Kia driver, who is married and lives locally but has not been named, suffered cuts to her knee.
Police confirmed they had carried out an eyesight test on Philip on Saturday morning, which he had passed.
Among growing anger on social media, law student Matthew Winters wrote on Twitter: ‘He didn’t receive a driving ban, he got a brand new car funded by the British taxpayer while the family he crashed into got nothing.’
Isabel Dick said: ‘I can’t help but wonder, if a 97-year-old crashed into William and Kate’s car with their baby in it, how long would it take Parliament to rush through new laws about older drivers.’
Still not buckling up Ma’am?
The Queen did not wear a seatbelt again yesterday as she was driven in her Bentley to a service at St Peter’s church at Wolferton on the Sandringham estate.
Photographs show that the car is fitted with belts, but she has never been known to wear one while travelling to church.
Yesterday the Queen was also seen without a seatbelt as she was driven to church
The 92-year-old’s journey from Sandringham House involved crossing the busy A149 road where her husband crashed last week.
But it is believed that her chauffeur avoided using the junction at Babingley where the accident happened. The Queen, who did not buckle up when she drove her Range Rover on Friday, has been criticised by safety campaigners for her failure to strap herself in.