NEW YORK (AFP) – Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle were involved in a “near catastrophic car chase” with paparazzi in New York, United States, a spokesperson for the couple said on Wednesday.
But police and even the mayor of New York City, as well as a taxi driver who briefly transported the couple, played down the danger and duration of the reported pursuit.
The pair were uninjured in the incident on Tuesday night that came almost 26 years after the Paris car crash that killed Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, which Harry blames on paparazzi.
The episode occurred after Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, attended an awards ceremony in America’s financial capital with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.
“Last night, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi,” the spokesperson said in a statement e-mailed to AFP. “This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers,” the spokesperson added.
A source close to the couple said Meghan and Harry were pursued by half a dozen blacked out vehicles with “unidentified people driving recklessly and endangering the convoy and everyone around them”.
“The chase could have been fatal,” the source added, claiming a number of possible traffic violations – including driving on the sidewalk, running red lights and reversing down a one-way street – were committed.
A spokesperson for the NYPD said “there were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging”.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in regard,” NYPD spokesman Julian Phillips told AFP. Harry has long had a difficult relationship with the media.
