Overview
- The Daily Mail on Jan. 12 revisited the Duchess of York’s January 1926 car accident, a retelling subsequently picked up by People and Geo as centenary features.
- The New York Times reported at the time that a motorist cut in near St. John’s Wood, the chauffeur braked, the car skidded into a bus, and the Duchess was thrown to the floor but only shaken.
- Her pregnancy with the future Queen Elizabeth II was not publicly acknowledged, and Buckingham Palace sought to minimize the crash, even shifting blame onto the bus in its statement.
- British politician Chips Channon was quoted as saying after hearing from the palace that she “very nearly had a miscarriage,” underscoring the potential constitutional stakes.
- Despite the scare, royal doctors induced labor and she delivered by Caesarean section on April 21, 1926, with later events in 1936 elevating Princess Elizabeth into the direct line to the throne.