London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

Duke of Norfolk banned from driving

Duke of Norfolk banned from driving

The peer who organised the Queen's funeral has been banned from driving for six months, despite claiming he needed his licence to arrange the King's upcoming coronation.

Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the 18th Duke of Norfolk, was caught using his mobile phone while driving in Battersea, south-west London, on 7 April.

He admitted the offence, at Lavender Hill Magistrates' Court earlier.

He had hoped to avoid a ban by claiming "exceptional hardship".

The Earl Marshal, 65, was stopped by police after his BMW cut across the officers' car, going through a red light, the court was told.

The officers drove up to his car and saw he was using his mobile phone. He told the officers he was "in communication with his wife", prosecutor Jonathan Bryan said.

Mr Bryan told magistrates the highest-ranking duke in England already had nine penalty points on his driving licence due to previous speeding offences and a compulsory endorsement of a further six points, which would lead to a ban.

The Duke of Norfolk was with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall at the State Opening of Parliament in 2015


However, the Earl Marshal, a crossbench peer in the House of Lords, told the court he intended to argue "exceptional hardship" due to the nature of his responsibilities.

The duke is in charge of organising state occasions, such as the State Opening of Parliament. He recently organised the Queen's funeral, which he described as "daunting and humbling" and will arrange the King's coronation, which is expected to be held next year.

He gave some evidence in secret after his lawyer successfully argued the public and press should be excluded for reasons of "national security".

Natasha Dardashti said details of the coronation should remain private for now.


'Extremely peculiar circumstances'


In an open court, she said: "He must be mobile to achieve what he needs to achieve in this regard.

"His Grace needs to be able to organise what is a huge event."

The lawyer added: "It is an extremely peculiar set of circumstances at a really crucial point in the history of this nation with the one man who was responsible for not only the funeral last week but the coronation of King Charles III."

The duke also told magistrates his office and the local railway station were four miles away from his home, Arundel Castle in West Sussex.

He said he employed some 150 people and needed to travel to his other estates in Norfolk and Yorkshire. The duke also spends a lot of time on the South Downs, where he funds a conservation project.

However, a bench of magistrates endorsed his licence with six points and banned him from driving for six months.

"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," said Judith Way, chair of the magistrates.

"The hardship needs to be exceptional and although we find inconvenience may be caused, we don't find it exceptional hardship."

Ms Way said that he had the means to employ drivers, although they would need security clearance.

The Earl Marshal was also fined £800 and ordered to pay £400 in costs.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×