On Jan. 17, the royal was pulling out of a driveway onto the road, according to Norfolk Police, when he collided with a Kia driven by a 28-year-old woman with a 46-year-old woman in the passenger seat and a 9-month-old baby in the backseat. His Land Rover was overturned in the crash.
The driver suffered cuts to her knee and the passenger broke her wrist. The small child was uninjured.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC they helped the royal out of his vehicle. He was conscious but very shocked and shaken, royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said. Philip walked away from the accident, which occurred near the royal family’s Sandringham Estate, uninjured.
A couple of weeks after the incident, Phillip sent an apology letter to the passenger Emma Fairweather.
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Philip went on to explain that “the sun was shining low over the main road,” adding, “in normal conditions I would have no difficulty in seeing traffic coming from the Dersingham direction, but I can only imagine that I failed to see the car coming, and I am very contrite about the consequences.”
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“I was somewhat shaken after the accident, but I was greatly relieved that none of you were seriously injured,” he wrote.
Philip also wished Fairweather a “speedy recovery from a very distressing experience.”
“Your sincerely, Philip,” he concluded the note.
Fairweather, who had previously spoken out about how disappointed she was over the lack of an immediate apology, told the
“I thought it was really nice that he signed off as ‘Philip’ and not the formal title. I was pleasantly surprised because of the personalized nature,” she said, adding, “He’s tried to give an explanation so I appreciate that, whether I agree with it or not.”
In February, authorities in Britain announced Philip will not face any charges over the crash explaining, it would “not be in the public interest to prosecute.”
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In a statement released on Feb 14, the Crown Prosecution Service said it has decided that no further action should be taken “against a driver involved in a collision on the A149 at Sandringham.”
Chris Long, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS East of England, said, “The CPS has carefully reviewed material submitted by the police in relation to a traffic collision on the A149 on 17 January this year.”
“We took into account all of the circumstances in this case, including the level of culpability, the age of the driver and the surrender of the driving license. We have decided that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute.”