Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle were “hounded” by “very aggressive paparazzi” in New York on Tuesday night, an incident that a spokesman for the couple said on Wednesday could have been “catastrophic” even if police had played it down.
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This “hunt” in the middle of the city, which a source close to “Sussex” says the outcome “could have been fatal” as the couple is at odds with the rest of the British royal family, immediately mirrors the death of Harry’s mother , Princess Diana, at the accident of her Mercedes in August 1997 in Paris, followed by paparazzi.
In New York on Tuesday night, the “relentless chase that lasted nearly two hours almost resulted in collisions with other drivers, pedestrians and two New York City Police Department officers,” a doorman protested in an email sent to AFP Prince and his wife live in California.
The couple, who first sat in a car with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, before taking a cab, had just left a party in New York where the Duchess of Sussex had been honored by a philanthropic and feminist organization.
According to AFP journalists covering the gala, the prince and his wife did not walk the red carpet, but entered and exited the room where the evening was held at the back.
“Although a public figure arouses interest, this should never be done at the expense of anyone’s safety,” the spokesman warned, denouncing that “the dissemination of these images (…) encourages a very intrusive (private life) and dangerous practice.” “.
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When asked, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) said they had “provided assistance to the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
Certainly, a police spokesman conceded, “there were many photographers there on Tuesday night, making their transportation (in New York) difficult.” But Harry and Meghan “arrived at their destination and there was no clash, no one was hurt, no arrest or subpoena” by law enforcement, he said.
Similarly, a taxi driver Sukhcharn Singh, found by the Washington Post, transported the couple and a security guard for ten minutes and denied the term “persecution.” “I never felt unsafe, it wasn’t like a movie chase. They were silent and looked scared, but this is New York, a safe city,” Singh said.
In fact, according to a source close to the couple, the sequel involved a half-dozen vehicles “driven by individuals in a reckless and dangerous manner for the procession and everyone else.”
“The chase could have been fatal,” the source said.
Harry has long blamed the press and paparazzi for the August 31, 1997 car accident in Paris that killed his mother, Lady Di.
In fact, New York City Mayor Eric Adams quoted Diana’s blatant disappearance as saying, “I don’t think a lot of us can’t remember how their mother died.”
While the councilman, a former police captain, told the press the paparazzi’s behavior was “a little reckless and irresponsible,” he questioned the likelihood of a “two-hour full-speed pursuit.”
“But even a 10-minute chase is extremely dangerous in New York City,” Adams said.
Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, left the British royal family in early 2020 to move to California due to conflict and tensions, including allegations of racism, and media pressure.
Gallant and alone, Harry traveled to London on May 6 for the coronation of his father Charles III.
The couple are very unpopular in the UK. The tabloids are ruthless and Harry has several legal battles with them.
The “Sussex” are accused of slamming the door, then slammed the powerful and secretive royal family, revealing the backstage and the disagreements around the world.
In The Substitute, a major bookstore hit written by Harry, his brother William, heir to the throne, is portrayed as angry, to the point that he berated him about Meghan in 2019.