{"id":266496,"date":"2019-01-31T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/b1009905"},"modified":"2019-01-31T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T11:00:00","slug":"why-prince-philip-is-still-in-the-drivers-seat-inside-his-life-after-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/music-news\/why-prince-philip-is-still-in-the-drivers-seat-inside-his-life-after-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Prince Philip Is Still in the Driver’s Seat: Inside His Life After Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Prince<\/p>\n

Tim Rooke\/REX\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Depending on who’s speaking, Prince Philip<\/a><\/strong> is either deeply shaken and “visibly more frail<\/a>”\u00a0following\u00a0the\u00a0Jan. 17 car accident<\/a>\u00a0that left his\u00a0Land Rover totaled and one woman nursing a broken wrist or entirely defiant, eager to get back on the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There’s\u00a0likely a fair bit of truth to each statement, but anyone who expected the 97-year-old Duke of Edinburgh to surrender the keys to his cadre of cars (a new Land Rover was delivered to their Sandringham residence the following day) and hide\u00a0himself away hasn’t been paying much attention. The man who’s made a career playing escort to Queen Elizabeth II<\/strong>, often pulling focus from England’s matriarch for his irreverent and, at times, troublingly offensive<\/a>, brand of humor isn’t one for the shrinking violet role.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And while he does take orders from her majesty, his bride of\u00a071\u00a0years is careful about when she doles them out. “There is really only one person he listens to and that’s the Queen,” an insider told Vanity Fair<\/em><\/a>, “and while I know she has had words in the past, I’m not sure she would ever insist he stops driving.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The former World War II naval officer has more or less\u00a0been operating on an “I do what I want” mindset\u00a0since announcing his retirement from public life (or as he’s referred to it, “ribbon cutting”) in August 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having spent the previous\u00a0seven decades delivering some 5,493 speeches, taking 637 solo trips overseas and authoring 14 books, he’s now content to quietly wile away his days at Wood Farm on the royals’ Norfolk spread, Sandringham Estate. While sizable, the former farm manager’s cottage\u00a0is\u00a0downright modest in comparison to Buckingham Palace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There, he tends to household matters, such as organizing the kitchen following a recent renovation\u00a0and spends a good amount of time writing letters and fundraising on behalf of his patronages. But he also\u00a0takes part in his most treasured hobbies such as carriage driving, painting watercolors, reading or just visiting with friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He is enjoying reading things he’s always wanted to read and gets up to what he wants without an equerry telling him he has to be elsewhere, or a camera following him,” a friend told the outlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Queen<\/p>\n

Associated Press<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

And when the Queen visits, the pair enjoy their more scaled-back dwellings.\u00a0(A page, housekeeper, chef and footman are\u00a0also on hand, but, per the Daily Mail<\/em><\/a>\u00a0they don’t wear uniforms.)\u00a0“They are very modest. They like being in a smaller\u00a0cozier house, and not having to have all the staff,” royal biographer Penny Juror, author of\u00a0The Duchess: Camilla Parker Bowles and the Love Affair That Rocked the Crown<\/em>, told The Daily Beast<\/em><\/a>. “We may dream of living in palace surrounded by flunkies, but they dream of being like us.”<\/p>\n

As for events, he’ll attend if he feels up to it. Just a month removed from a scheduled hip surgery<\/a>, Philip “made a supreme effort” to be up and about for grandson Prince Harry<\/a><\/strong>‘s May 19 wedding to Meghan Markle<\/a><\/strong>, a source told People<\/em><\/a>. But he remained wishy-washy about returning to Windsor Castle that October for his granddaughter’s vows, with much speculation that he was less keen to watch granddaughter Princess Eugenie<\/a><\/strong> marry Jack Brooksbank<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0because of\u00a0his long-running\u00a0freeze-out of\u00a0her mother Sarah Ferguson<\/strong>, Duchess of York. “I would be very surprised if he did go, because he is so estranged from Fergie,” said the source. “I think he will decide at the 99th hour.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Prince<\/p>\n

Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He did turn up for the fall affair alongside his bride, but the royals were prepared for either scenario.\u00a0That’s just how it goes when you’re a nonagenarian, who’s been officially off-duty for\u00a0some 17\u00a0months.\u00a0“Not unreasonably, when you consider his age, the Duke of Edinburgh will decide on the morning of the wedding if he’s going to be there,”\u00a0The Telegraph<\/em> reported<\/a>. “He now very much operates on a ‘wake up and see how I feel’ basis.<\/p>\n

That’s not to say he’s some sort of shut-in, selectively attending some choice events<\/a> such as\u00a0the 75th Royal Windsor Horse Show in May and a couple of polo matches<\/a> in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And on Jan. 17 he was just going about his day, returning from an unknown errand when\u00a0he pulled onto the busy A149 road near Sandringham and collided into a Kia carrying 28-year-old driver Ellie Townsend, her 9-month-old son and pal Emma Fairweather, 46, later telling those at the scene he was “dazzled” by the bright sunlight in his eyes.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The terrifying incident that left the Duke’s SUV overturned quickly turned into tabloid fodder when Fairweather, who was riding in the passenger seat,\u00a0capitalized on her 15 minutes of fame, turning up on Britain’s\u00a0This Morning Monday<\/em> to discuss the royal treatment she’d received.\u00a0“I thought surely he wants to speak to me, but then somebody told me he had tried to but been told not to,” she told the program. “I don’t think asking if someone is okay is accepting liability.”<\/p>\n

She later told\u00a0the Sunday Mirror<\/em><\/a> that she received a call from Mary Morrison, one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, but was disappointed not to have heard from the Duke himself. “It would mean the world to me if Prince Philip said sorry but I have no idea if he’s sorry at all,” she told the Mirror<\/em>. “What would it have taken for him and the Queen to send me a card and a bunch of flowers?”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Though no blooms arrived at her doorstep in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, a note from Philip<\/a>\u00a0was hand-delivered Jan. 23. In the typed 181-word missive, the\u00a0royal apologized for his role in the incident. “The sun was shining low over the main road,” he wrote. “In normal conditions I would have no difficulty in seeing traffic\u00a0coming from the Dersingham direction, but I can only imagine that I failed to see the car coming.”<\/p>\n

He continued on, explaining why he so hastily fled the scene without checking in. “As a crowd was beginning to gather, I was advised to return to Sandringham House by a local police officer.”\u00a0But once he learned that she had suffered a broken wrist, he felt the need to send his condolences. “I am deeply sorry about this injury,” he concluded before signing his name. “I wish you a speedy recovery from a very distressing experience.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The encounter was troubling for him as well, with a source telling The Sun<\/em><\/a>, “The idea he may have hurt someone would mortify him.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Prince<\/p>\n

Peter MacDiarmid\/REX\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

What he is unlikely to do, though, is put an end to his driving days. A longtime car fanatic\u2014the Queen once wrote<\/a> to\u00a0author Betty Shew, “Philip enjoys driving and does it fast! He has his own tiny M.G. which he is very proud of he has taken me about in it,”\u2014the Duke was back behind the wheel of\u00a0his new Land Rover the next day, sans seatbelt. Having passed the eye test required as part of the police investigation, a source told the Sunday Mirror<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0“He didn’t waste any time in getting the keys to the Land Rover.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the source, the Duke told staff to arrange for the new ride “so he could get back on the road. He didn’t consider that he wouldn’t be driving again.”<\/p>\n

Such an arrangement has occurred to others, a source told Vanity Fair<\/em>, but\u00a0the father of four isn’t interested in hearing it. “Philip is a law unto himself,” said\u00a0the source. “The Queen and Prince Charles<\/a><\/strong> have pleaded with him to stop driving on public roads. Charles particularly thinks it’s too dangerous but Philip won’t be told. He loves the freedom he gets from being on the road, and he doesn’t want to be driven around.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Queen<\/p>\n

Dominic Lipinski – WPA Pool \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Basically, if it’s not an explicit instruction coming from the Queen herself, he’s not listening. And short of proof that he’s actually a hazard to others, the monarch has no interest in stepping in. In her mind, the man she first fell in love with as a 13-year-old princess (the pair carried on a years-long courtship via post as First Lieutenant Philip, then a Greek prince, served in\u00a0World War II)\u00a0has earned his slice of freedom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Forgoing his beloved naval career, he dutifully served as her consort from the time she ascended to the throne in 1952. That meant accepting his place a step behind her because, as\u00a0one friend put it to the Daily Mail<\/em><\/a>, “He’s seen it as a consideration for those who want an unobstructed view of the Queen without him getting in the way. It’s the same reason why she sits further forward with the aid of cushions in cars and carriages.'”<\/p>\n

As he has said<\/a>,\u00a0“There was no choice. It just happened.\u00a0You have to make compromises. That’s life. I accept it. I tried to make the best of it.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Queen<\/p>\n

Serge Lemoine\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

And while publicly it is his better half\u00a0who has the vital role, he knows how critical he is to the whole operation.\u00a0“Prince Philip is the only man in the world who treats the Queen simply as another human being. He’s the only man who can,”\u00a0her majesty’s former private secretary Lord Charteris has said<\/a>. “Strange as it may seem, I believe she values that.”<\/p>\n

She made as much clear when giving a speech at their 50th anniversary celebration, telling those gathered at the 1997 event,\u00a0“He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments. But he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years. I and his whole family, in this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.”<\/p>\n

And as she watched him deal with the chronic arthritis that had made the seemingly nonstop plaque unveilings, parades and, yes, ribbon cuttings more painful, she knew she owed him a reprieve. While he will continue to be associated with the 700-plus patronages he has acquired over the years, “he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements,” the palace said in\u00a0the statement announcing his retirement<\/a>\u00a0in 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Stationing himself at Sandringham, some\u00a0two-and-a-half hours\u00a0outside of London, means the couple, who once always shared a breakfast table, now spend far more evenings apart. But it’s a sacrifice the matriarch is willing to make.\u00a0“The Queen feels the Duke has earned a proper retirement. She knows him too well\u2014if he was still at the center of royal life he’d feel he had to be involved. Being at Wood Farm means he’s not too far away, but far enough to be able to relax.”<\/p>\n

To a former lady-in-waiting, it’s just one mark of their enduring romance. “I’m sure the Queen doesn’t mind that in the least,” she explained to the Daily Mail<\/em>. “She fell in love with him at 13 when they first met and she is still in love with him. She’s always had a special look in her eyes when she looks at him, and still has it. She believes he’s earned some peace and quiet.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

via:: E! Online<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tim Rooke\/REX\/Shutterstock Depending on who’s speaking, Prince Philip is either deeply shaken and “visibly more frail”\u00a0following\u00a0the\u00a0Jan. 17 car accident\u00a0that left his\u00a0Land Rover totaled and one woman nursing a broken wrist or entirely defiant, eager to get back on the road.\u00a0 There’s\u00a0likely a fair bit of truth to each statement, but anyone who expected the 97-year-old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-266496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 12:46:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIDN - The Lift FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}