---
title: "England’s 97-Year-Old Prince Philip Rolls Land Rover, Injures Two in Violent Crash"
description: "England's Prince Philip, the 97-year-old Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, is lucky to be alive and uninjured after rolling his Land Rover Freelander in a two-car crash that sent the royal SUV \"tumbling\" across the road on Thursday, according to the BBC."
date: "2019-01-19"
modified: "2019-01-19"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/26053/englands-97-year-old-prince-philip-rolls-land-rover-injures-two-in-violent-crash"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "Land Rover News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "People"
tags:
  - "Crash"
  - "england"
  - "land rover"
  - "Prince"
  - "Queen Elizabeth II"
  - "Royal Family"
  - "United Kingdom"
---

# England’s 97-Year-Old Prince Philip Rolls Land Rover, Injures Two in Violent Crash

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2019/01/gettyimages-473316394-copy.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

England's Prince Philip, the 97-year-old Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, is lucky to be alive and uninjured after rolling his Land Rover Freelander in a two-car crash that sent the royal SUV "tumbling" across the road on Thursday, [according to the *BBC*.](<https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46918039>)

Prince Philip was driving his Land Rover by himself on public roads near the royal Sandringham estate in rural eastern England when the accident occurred around 2:45pm. Though the investigation is still ongoing, the [*Daily Mail* reports](<https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6604071/Duke-Edinburgh-involved-road-crash.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailUK>) that officials believe the duke crossed into the path of an oncoming car carrying two women and a nine-month-old baby as he pulled onto the 60-mph A149 from a dead stop.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1086205076413263872

The force of the crash caused the Freelander to roll at least once and land on its side near the edge of the road. A witness who helped Prince Philip out of the toppled SUV told [the *BBC*](<https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46918039>) that he appeared shaken but unhurt, which a doctor later confirmed. The two adults in the Kia weren't so lucky—[police say](<https://www.norfolk.police.uk/news/latest-news/17-01-2019/investigations-continue-sandringham-collision?fbclid=IwAR3EtDu0IMgVAtdTZ2M8tYfE03KnenZ8UUd-mlpfFaltf7KagH7-1R5tz7U>) the driver received cuts on her knee, while the passenger broke her wrist. Thankfully, the baby was uninjured.

https://youtube.com/embed/mHEyFmKIDfk

Ominously, that same witness also told [the *BBC*](<https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46918039>) that he overheard the duke telling police that he was "dazzled by the sun." It's true that direct sunlight can dramatically reduce your visibility behind the wheel—but it's also true that such dangers are greatly compounded with age.

Really, it's an open question as to whether any 97-year old *should* be driving, even in a lightly-armored SUV. British law requires drivers over the age of 70 to renew their licenses every three years; Buckingham Palace confirmed that Prince Philip has a current driver's license but wouldn't say when he last took the test. The *Daily Mail* spoke to a former bodyguard for Princess Diana who said that the duke should have also had a royal protection officer along on such an excursion.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1086247625890910208

If there's any conversation about Prince Philip giving up the keys, he's not hearing it: [photographers spotted](<https://twitter.com/MirrorRoyal/status/1086247625890910208>) a fresh Land Rover Freelander identical to the wrecked model being delivered to the royal estate on Friday.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)