Man who helped Prince Philip after car wreck describes 'astonishing escape'
The good Samaritan who rushed to help pull the 97-year-old Prince Philip from "a horrendous accident" after the royal's SUV flipped over on a countryside road said he found it incredible everyone survived without major injuries.
"It was an astonishing escape for everyone," motorist Roy Warne told television crews after he helped the husband of Queen Elizabeth out of the Land Rover he was driving Thursday on a road near Sandringham Estate, the monarch's countryside estate.
"He didn't seem to be in pain and I think he wasn't particularly concerned, but obviously very shocked in circumstance," Warne said. "It was a horrendous accident and it's just amazing that people weren't seriously injured."
Witnesses say the prince's vehicle overturned after colliding with another car, which was carrying a 9-month old baby. The infant was not injured, but the driver of the other vehicle had cuts to her knee, and her passenger suffered a broken wrist, according to a police statement.
Warne said he didn't realize who was in the Land Rover until the prince made his way out of the shattered rooftop or windshield — he couldn't tell which one it was because of the way the vehicle lay.
"I helped him move his legs which were a bit trapped, a bit crushed, and then I saw his face and I realized who he was," Ware said.
Philip appeared "very shaken up" but checked on everyone else's welfare.
"He didn't make a big fuss about it and he went to ask everyone else if they were injured," Ware said.
Police said both drivers were given breathalyzers and tested negative for intoxication.
Philip officially retired from public life in 2017 but has never stopped taking the wheel. In 2016, he drove former Barack Obama when the former president paid a visit to the queen at Windsor Castle.
"I've never been driven by a Duke of Edinburgh before, and I can report it was smooth riding," Obama said at the time.
Buckingham Palace has confirmed the prince was not injured in the accident.
