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American Morning
Princess Anne Pleads Guilty
Aired November 21, 2002 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: A somewhat tainted history-making event this morning in a British courtroom -- "highly irregular," as they'd say over there.
Princess Anne pleaded guilty to letting her dog run lose and attack two children. She is the first member of Britain's royal family in modern times to be convicted of a criminal offense, although she's got a bunch of misdemeanors for the way she drives.
Richard Quest is our man on the scene, and he joins us from Slough.
What the hell kind of name is Slough?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a bit like -- the best way I can say it, it's a bit like saying Pittsburgh or New Jersey.
CAFFERTY: Oh, OK.
QUEST: That will give you an idea.
CAFFERTY: Fair enough.
QUEST: Right. Now, this was an embarrassing case for Princess Anne, the princess royal, who was appearing in one of her mother's own courts behind me. The princess pleaded guilty. She said very little during the case.
But, Jack, what this case was really all about was the boisterous dog who doesn't like bicycles; otherwise known as "dangerous Dotty." The dog was called Dorothy, and time and again we heard evidence about how this bull terrier needed retraining.
So, as the case moved on, the princess pleaded guilty. Finally, judgment was given. Princess Anne was fined a total of about $1,800 to $2,000.
And guess what? Dangerous Dorothy escaped destruction. The magistrate decided that Dorothy just needed to be kept on a long leash, and in the future, would need a bit of retraining, so that she wouldn't keep running after bicycles.
But the best bit came right at the end, because it's only a suspended sentence of destruction for poor Dorothy, or Dottie the dog. The judge said to Princess Anne, you do realize if there's another repeat of this, this will be the end. CAFFERTY: Well, that sounds ominous, indeed. What about all of these -- this woman is very reckless behind the wheel of a car, too, is she not? I was reading where she's had all of these speeding tickets for racing around over there like some wild woman.
QUEST: Yes, over the last 20-30 years, the princess royal has had four speeding convictions, in some cases driving at 96-97 miles an hour of Britain's motorways or interstates.
And basically -- but this was on a far grander scale. This was actually appearing in court. She had to turn up, she had to stand in front of the magistrate. She only said yes to her name, her address, her age, and then we just heard her say, she pleaded guilty. Otherwise, she looked serious, but relaxed. I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in the grand scheme of royal stuff...
CAFFERTY: Yes.
QUEST: ... this is on the low scale. It was embarrassing.
CAFFERTY: You said she had to testify to her age. How old is she?
QUEST: I knew you were going to ask me that. A woman of a certain age...
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: A woman of a certain age, yes, yes, yes. It sounds like you're on Buckingham Palace's payroll.
Richard, I've got to run -- good to see you, partner. Thank you.
Richard Quest, live from Slough.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired November 21, 2002 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: A somewhat tainted history-making event this morning in a British courtroom -- "highly irregular," as they'd say over there.
Princess Anne pleaded guilty to letting her dog run lose and attack two children. She is the first member of Britain's royal family in modern times to be convicted of a criminal offense, although she's got a bunch of misdemeanors for the way she drives.
Richard Quest is our man on the scene, and he joins us from Slough.
What the hell kind of name is Slough?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a bit like -- the best way I can say it, it's a bit like saying Pittsburgh or New Jersey.
CAFFERTY: Oh, OK.
QUEST: That will give you an idea.
CAFFERTY: Fair enough.
QUEST: Right. Now, this was an embarrassing case for Princess Anne, the princess royal, who was appearing in one of her mother's own courts behind me. The princess pleaded guilty. She said very little during the case.
But, Jack, what this case was really all about was the boisterous dog who doesn't like bicycles; otherwise known as "dangerous Dotty." The dog was called Dorothy, and time and again we heard evidence about how this bull terrier needed retraining.
So, as the case moved on, the princess pleaded guilty. Finally, judgment was given. Princess Anne was fined a total of about $1,800 to $2,000.
And guess what? Dangerous Dorothy escaped destruction. The magistrate decided that Dorothy just needed to be kept on a long leash, and in the future, would need a bit of retraining, so that she wouldn't keep running after bicycles.
But the best bit came right at the end, because it's only a suspended sentence of destruction for poor Dorothy, or Dottie the dog. The judge said to Princess Anne, you do realize if there's another repeat of this, this will be the end. CAFFERTY: Well, that sounds ominous, indeed. What about all of these -- this woman is very reckless behind the wheel of a car, too, is she not? I was reading where she's had all of these speeding tickets for racing around over there like some wild woman.
QUEST: Yes, over the last 20-30 years, the princess royal has had four speeding convictions, in some cases driving at 96-97 miles an hour of Britain's motorways or interstates.
And basically -- but this was on a far grander scale. This was actually appearing in court. She had to turn up, she had to stand in front of the magistrate. She only said yes to her name, her address, her age, and then we just heard her say, she pleaded guilty. Otherwise, she looked serious, but relaxed. I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in the grand scheme of royal stuff...
CAFFERTY: Yes.
QUEST: ... this is on the low scale. It was embarrassing.
CAFFERTY: You said she had to testify to her age. How old is she?
QUEST: I knew you were going to ask me that. A woman of a certain age...
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: A woman of a certain age, yes, yes, yes. It sounds like you're on Buckingham Palace's payroll.
Richard, I've got to run -- good to see you, partner. Thank you.
Richard Quest, live from Slough.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
