Prince Harry and Meghan say they were in a ‘near catastrophic car chase’ due to paparazzi
The chase involved a half dozen paparazzi tailing the couple on a major New York City highway for more than hour, but did not result in any injuries, crashes, or arrests.
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, say they were pursued by paparazzi through New York City on Tuesday night in a two-hour car chase that a representative for the prince called “near catastrophic.”
The incident followed the Ms. Foundation’s gala at New York City’s Ziegfeld Ballroom, where Markle, accompanied by the British prince and her mother, Doria Ragland, accepted an award for her dedication to public service.
A half-dozen paparazzi tailed Prince Harry, Markle, and Ragland up and down Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Driver — Manhattan’s east side highway — for more than an hour, according to NBC News. Harry, Markle, and Ragland eventually ducked into a police station on 67th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues for about 15 minutes, before switching cars and leaving without being followed.
“There were about a dozen vehicles: cars, scooters and bicycles,” Chris Sanchez, a member of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s security team, told CNN. “The public were in jeopardy at several points. It could have been fatal.”
No one was injured, and the New York City Police Department told reporters that the photographers made the couple’s transport “challenging,” but that the pursuit did not lead to any reported collisions or arrests.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams condemned the car chase, calling it “reckless” and “irresponsible.”
The event marked Markle’s first public appearance with Prince Harry after missing King Charles’ coronation earlier in May, which occurred on their son Archie’s fourth birthday.
Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash while being pursued by paparazzi in 1997. A 2008 jury in Great Britain ruled that Princess Diana was “unlawfully killed” by reckless driving on behalf of the paparazzi, setting new standards of privacy for public figures — and their children — in Europe.
Prince Harry has publicly blamed his mother’s death on paparazzi and their hunt for photos of the royal family.
“When I think about my mom, the first thing that comes to mind is always the same one, over and over again: Strapped in the car, seat belt across ... and my mother driving and being chased by three, four, five mopeds with paparazzi on,” Harry said in his 2020 docuseries The Me You Can’t See. “One of the feelings that comes up is helplessness. Being too young ... to be able to help a woman, in this case, your mother. And that happened every single day until the day she died.”
Security for the couple has been a sticking point since 2020, when the British government stripped them of protection after they stepped down from royal duties and eventually moved to California.
The prince had previously argued his safety was “compromised due to the absence of police protection” during a brief visit to the U.K. in 2021, where he was also chased by photographers following a charity event.
Prince Harry has been embroiled in a long legal battle regarding his right to pay for security arrangements. When the couple moved the United States, they began paying for security after former President Donald Trump said the U.S government wouldn’t fund protection.
Now, the British government is refusing to permit Prince Harry from continuing to do so when he visits Great Britain.
The chase occurred the day a lawyer argued in a London court for the prince’s right to contract police for security, according to the Associated Press.
“Being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public; it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” Harry’s spokesperson said. “Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all involved.”