The highest-ranking duke in England argued he would suffer “exceptional hardship” if he was disqualified.
The peer who organised the Queen’s funeral has been banned from driving for six months despite claiming he needs his licence to arrange the King’s upcoming coronation.
But a bench of magistrates, chaired by Judith Way endorsed his licence with six points and banned him from driving for six months. He gave evidence for more than 30 minutes in secret after magistrates ruled the media and public should be excluded from court for reasons of “national security”. “The application for this matter to be in camera is for reasons of national security and because details of this will be provided which have not yet been discussed with His Royal Highness, and not yet discussed with the Prime Minister and not yet discussed with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He said he employs some 150 people, needs to travel to his other estates in Norfolk and Yorkshire, and spends a lot of time on the South Downs, where he funds a conservation project to protect “near extinct” bird life. He said the loss of his licence could be “very, very serious”, leading to the loss of jobs for up to 20 or 30 employees, such as tractor driver “Gary”, which he said, “would mortify me”.
But he said, although he could be driven from 9am to 5pm or at 4am “to get out to see the curlew or lapwing”, “it is almost impossible to have enough drivers to carry out this task of getting me to the right place.”
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