NEW YORK (The Washington Post) – A group of “highly aggressive paparazzi” chased a vehicle transporting Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, after attending a ceremony in New York City on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the couple said.
The spokeswoman, who said Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, was also in the car, said the over two-hour chase was nearly “catastrophic.”
A New York Police Department spokesperson said the presence of many photographers made the couple’s transport “challenging,” adding that they arrived at their destination safely without any collisions or injuries. A taxi driver who transported the couple for a part of their journey after attending the event told The Washington Post in an interview that he would not call the incident a chase, adding that he felt safe during the ride.
In an email to The Post, the spokeswoman said: “This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.”
“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” the couple’s spokeswoman said.
The New York City Police Department said in a statement Wednesday that the department had “assisted the private security team protecting” Harry and Meghan the previous night.
“There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging,” NYPD spokesman Julian Phillips said in the statement. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) said Wednesday morning that he had been given a preliminary briefing on the matter and had been informed that two New York City police officers “could have been injured.”
Adams referred to the situation as a chase and called the incident “a bit reckless and irresponsible.” He appeared skeptical about whether there could have been a high-speed chase for two hours in the city, but said “a 10-minute chase is extremely dangerous in New York City.”
Harry has frequently referenced how his mother, Princess Diana, was hounded by the paparazzi and he blames them for their role in her death. She died in a 1997 car crash in Paris while being chased by paparazzi. In his memoir “Spare,” Harry also detailed the relentless harassment of the press in his own life, especially of past girlfriends. The couple has previously expressed their concerns about being followed by paparazzi in the self-produced six-hour Netflix documentary. In a scene of the documentary, Harry and Meghan were shown being chauffeured in New York City and fearing that they were being followed by photographers.
Video shared on social media showed the couple entering a black SUV after leaving the award ceremony at the Ziegfeld Ballroom on West 54th Street.
In an interview on Wednesday, taxi driver Sukhcharn Singh said he picked the couple up in New York later on Tuesday night and drove them for a brief period, during which it appeared they were pursued by other vehicles.
Singh said he picked up Harry, Meghan, an older Black woman and one security guard in his yellow cab at about 11pm outside the New York City Police Department’s 19th precinct on East 67th Street. In Singh’s account, the guard waved him down and asked: “Do you want a fare?”
Singh, who goes by “Sunny,” said he drove the group the block and a half west to Park Avenue before heading south. The driver said they were pursued by two vehicles: a black Honda Accord and an older gray Honda CR-V.
“They kept following us and were coming next to the car,” Singh said. “They took pictures as we stopped and were filming us.”
Singh, 37, who moved to the United States from India as a child, said he got the impression from the group that they had been already pursued by paparazzi before entering his car. After a few minutes, Singh said, the security guard grew concerned about the photographers and asked him to return to the police station. The guard thought they were too exposed and didn’t want their location shared more widely, Singh said.
He turned and headed north up Madison Avenue, driving them back to the pickup point. Singh estimated that the entire journey lasted 10 minutes.
“I don’t think I would call it a chase,” Singh said of his period driving the couple. “I never felt like I was in danger. It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but it’s New York – it’s safe.”
Harry is suing the British government over his security arrangements when in the U.K. Although he travels with his own security, he wants to pay for specially trained British police officers who have access to U.K. intelligence. The British government has resisted setting a precedent where individuals can pay for police.
A spokesperson with Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the incident.
Meghan was in New York with Prince Harry and Ragland to accept a Women of Vision award from the Ms. Foundation at Ziegfeld Ballroom.
Meghan briefly referred to the vitriol she says she faced in the British media in her acceptance speech:
“The narrative on repeat that surrounded me allowed me to recognize that part of my greater value and purpose in life was to advocate for those who felt unheard, to stand up to injustice, and to be not afraid of saying what you know is true, and what is just, and what is right,” she said.
The ceremony, held Tuesday night, was the first public event the Duchess of Sussex attended after the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, which Prince Harry attended without her.
The award honored Meghan’s “lifelong advocacy for women and girls,” including as a United Nations Women’s advocate for women’s political participation and leadership, according to the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards website.
