On Wednesday 17 May, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, along with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, were involved in a “near catastrophic” two-hour car chase with “aggressive paparazzi” after attending an awards ceremony in New York, as reported by a spokesperson for the couple.
Harry, Meghan & Doria made it through the incident unharmed.
The chase lasted for over two hours through Manhattan and reportedly involved multiple close calls with other vehicles on the road, pedestrians, and two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers.
During the chase, New York Police Department assisted the couple in making an exit by hailing a New York taxi cab to escort the party covertly.
This attempt was successful until the vehicle and its occupants were spotted by photographers, and the driver of the vehicle, Sukhcharn Singh, was told to circle back to the police department. The taxi driver, Mr. Singh, tells the BBC:
“A security guard hailed me, next thing you know Prince Harry and his wife were hopping into my cab…”
“As we went a block, we got blocked by a garbage truck and all of a sudden paparazzi came and started taking pictures. They were just about to give me the location of where they were going to go but then they told me to circle back to the precinct.”
The driver also reported that the couple were “nice people” but “seemed nervous”, adding that the “near catastrophic chase” might have been exaggerated by press, adding that he did not think the paparazzi were being “aggressive”.
However, an article written by the BBC says: “the chase involved half a dozen cars, with reckless driving including going through red lights, driving on the pavement, carrying out blocking moves, and reversing down a one-way street – as well as taking photographs while driving.”
In previous interviews, Harry has referred to the paparazzi as “a pack of dogs” who consistently hounded his mother, Diana, who was killed in a car crash while being chased by paparazzi in Paris in 1997.
In 2020, the couple stepped down from their royal roles partly due to what they described as media harassment. Beyond that, Harry is also involved in multiple legal cases where he has accused tabloid papers of using unlawful methods to target him and his family.
