Queen Elizabeth Will Reportedly Stop Driving on Public Roads

The news comes weeks after Prince Philip gave up his driver’s license.

As her 93rd birthday approaches, Queen Elizabeth would voluntarily stop driving on public roads. According to the Sunday Times: “The Queen is supposed to give up driving on public roads on the advice of her security team following the car accident of the Duke of Edinburgh earlier this year. The monarch will be driven on public roads.”

Writer Roya Nikkhah also reports that “it is thought that the queen may continue to drive on private roads.” Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the matter.

The news comes about seven weeks after 97-year-old Prince Philip turned in his driver’s license. At that time, Buckingham Palace published a statement that partially read: “After careful consideration, the Duke of Edinburgh made the decision to voluntarily give up his driving license.”

He did this after his involvement in a car accident on January 17. The Duke of Edinburgh was driving near Sandringham when his Land Rover collided with another car. Prince Philip was unharmed, but the driver of the other car had to deal with cuts and the passenger broke her wrist. Fortunately, a 9-month-old baby in the back seat of their car was not injured in the collision.

Prince Philip has in the meantime offered his apologies in writing to at least one of the women, Emma Fairweather.

In the letter, first published in the Sunday Mirror and confirmed to be genuine by Buckingham Palace, the Duke of Edinburgh said he was “deeply sorry” and shared that he was “somewhat shocked” by the accident, but “very relieved” that nobody was seriously injured.

He apparently also took responsibility for the collision and wrote: “I can only imagine that I have not seen the car coming, and I am very defeated about the consequences.”