The Duke of Norfolk, who planned Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, has been banned from driving for six months for using his phone while behind the wheel.
On Monday, the Earl Marshal – who is responsible for organising the State Opening of Parliament – pleaded guilty to the offence at Lavender Hill magistrates’ court.
The ban was imposed despite his claim that he needs his licence to arrange King Charles III’s upcoming coronation.
Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 65, admitted to driving through a red light while on the phone to his wife after he was stopped in a BMW car in south London on 7 April – five months before the Queen’s death.
He had initially denied the offence but later admitted to not paying attention to the road because he was on the phone.
Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan told magistrates the highest-ranking duke in England had already totted up nine penalty points on his driving licence from two previous speeding offences in 2019.
The addition of six points now means a bench of magistrates, chaired by Judith Way, banned him from driving for six months.
Ms Way said: “We accept that this a unique case because of the defendant’s role in society and in particular in relation to the King’s coronation.
“The hardship needs to be exceptional and although we find inconvenience may be caused, we don’t find it exceptional hardship.
“We consider alternative means of hardship are available.”
During the court proceedings, the duke’s lawyer Natasha Dardashti applied for the details of the coronation to be held in camera – meaning with the exclusion of the public and press – because, she said, of the threat to national security.
The details – which she said had yet to be discussed with the King, prime minister Liz Truss, or the Archbishop of Canterbury – include the date of the coronation.
Ms Dardashti told magistrates: “Very few people have been made aware of the date, the more sensitive the material the fewer people are yet to be involved in that.”
She added: “Organisation of a national state occasion involves considerable matters of national security, not just the public and officials in this country but world leaders attending the UK.
“In order to be able to properly advance this argument it would require his grace to go into details, and to allow the press to remain will prohibit him putting forward much of the information he needs to put.”
Prosecutor Mr Bryan outlined the facts of the driving offence.
He said: “The time was just before 3.45pm, it was a Thursday. Officers were in a vehicle on Battersea Park Road when they saw a BMW.
“Officers were stationary at a traffic light, which turned green. A BMW cut across them and, on that basis, the officers assumed it must have gone through a red light because their light was green.
“One of the officers noticed the driver was using a mobile phone while doing this and didn’t seem to be paying attention.
“The officers drove up to the BMW and saw through the window that the driver was using his mobile phone.”
The duke had organised the Queen’s funeral which took place earlier this month – an event he had spent years planning.
The monarch died on 8 September, and the funeral was held on 19 September after she had been lying in state for 10 days.
The Earl Marshal is the 18th Duke of Norfolk, who inherited the position upon the death of his father in 2002.
The duke is the most senior lay member of the Roman Catholic Church in Britain and a crossbench peer in the House of Lords.
An Oxford-educated father of five, he is a distant relative of Elizabeth I and is also reported to be worth more than £100m.
This article was amended on 27 September 2022. It previously said that the duke was a descendant of Elizabeth I, but that is incorrect. He is a distant relative.
