Prince Philip will face no action over Land Rover crash

Nick Freeman is pictured outside Reading Magistrates Court in 2010 

Celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman has backed the decision not to prosecute Prince Philip over a car crash which left two women in hospital while claiming the other driver may also have been at fault.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said today that he will not face any legal action after his Land Rover was involved in a collision with another car near Sandringham last month.

The Duke of Edinburgh, 97, voluntarily gave up his driving licence following the crash, which happened on the A149 on January 17.

Mr Freeman – known as ‘Mr Loophole’ for his track record of helping celebrities defend driving charges – said: ‘I said from the start that the best way for the Duke to avoid any charges would be to surrender his licence.

‘It’s 100% correct the correct decision.’

Mr Freeman said there would have been no public interest in prosecuting the Duke.

‘It was probably the right time, given his age, for the Duke to give up his licence.

‘If he’d not done that he probably would have been prosecuted and disqualified.

‘But but there was no public interest in prosecuting him once he surrendered his licence.

‘It would have been a pyrrhic prosecution and a huge waste of taxpayers money.

‘The Duke won’t be driving on public roads now and he’s got the resources to get around if he needs to.

‘He can also still drive around the royal estates, as they’re private roads, if he wishes.’

Norfolk Police had submitted a file to the CPS to decide whether to Duke would face any charges.

The Duke’s car flipped over in the crash, which happened after he was apparently dazzled by the sun.

The other vehicle involved, a Kia, was carrying a nine-month-old baby boy, his 28-year-old mother who was driving, and passenger Emma Fairweather.

The baby was unhurt but the two women had to be treated in hospital, with Ms Fairweather, 46, suffering a broken wrist.

Mr Freeman claimed the driver of the Kia wasn’t completely blameless for the crash and could have driven ‘more defensively’.

He said: ‘I’ve read a copy of the accident report.

‘Apparently the driver of the Kia saw the Duke’s Land Rover slowly emerging from a side road.

‘He was probably doing that it order to get a better view of the road if he was being dazzled by the sun.

‘But the Kia driver didn’t react. She could have slowed down, flashed her lights or sounded her horn.

‘She did none of those things. She took no evasive action and if she had the crash could’ve been avoided.’

He added’ ‘Every driver has a duty to drive with due care and attention.

‘If the Kia driver had driven more defensively the two cars may not have collided.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk