Prince Harry, Meghan in ‘near catastrophic’ New York car chase

AFP
6 Min Read
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple Of Hope Gala
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala at New York Hilton on December 06, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala)
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New York (AFP) โ€“ Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle were involved in a โ€œnear catastrophic car chaseโ€ involving paparazzi in New York, a spokesperson for the couple said Wednesday.

The pair were uninjured in the incident Tuesday night, which came almost 26 years after the Paris car crash that killed Harryโ€™s mother, Princess Diana, which Harry blames on paparazzi.

The New York chase occurred after Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, attended an awards ceremony in Americaโ€™s financial capital with Meghanโ€™s mother Doria Ragland.

โ€œLast night, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms. Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi,โ€ the spokesperson said in a statement emailed to AFP.

โ€œThis relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,โ€ the spokesperson added.

A source close to the couple said Meghan and Harry were pursued by half a dozen blacked out vehicles with โ€œunidentified people driving recklessly and endangering the convoy and everyone around them.โ€

โ€œThe chase could have been fatal,โ€ the source added, claiming a number of possible traffic violations including driving on the sidewalk, running red lightsย and reversing down a one-way street, were committed.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said โ€œnumerous photographersโ€ had made the coupleโ€™s journey โ€œchallenging.โ€

โ€œThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in regard,โ€ deputy commissioner Julian Phillips told AFP.

Harry has long had a difficult relationship with the media.

He blames press intrusion for causing the death of his mother in a car crash in a tunnel in Paris in 1997 while she was being pursued by paparazzi.

In a US television interview earlier this year he recalled seeing the final photos of her and realizing that the last thing she saw before she died was photographers taking her picture.

Harry and Meghan, an American former TV actress, sensationally quit royal family duties in early 2020 and moved from Britain to the United States, in part because of intense media scrutiny.

The younger son of King Charles III has been involved in several legal cases against British newspaper publishers since moving to California.

โ€˜Dangerousโ€™

Last week the publisher of the tabloid The Mirror, which Harry accuses of unlawful information gathering, apologized โ€œunreservedlyโ€ and said the prince was entitled to โ€œappropriate compensation.โ€ It did not provide further details.

Harry is also pursuing claims against the publisher of The Sun and the publisher of the Daily Mail.ย Those cases will be decided later this year.

Harry and Meghan had attended the Ms. Foundation for Women ceremony in New York where Meghan received an award and were staying at a private residence.

The coupleโ€™s spokesperson added that โ€œwhile being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyoneโ€™s safety.โ€

โ€œDissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved,โ€ it said.

Mayor Eric Adams said he found it โ€œhard to believe that there was a two-hour high speed chase,โ€ through the Big Apple but added that even โ€œa 10-minute chase is extremely dangerous in New York City.โ€ย 

โ€œWe have a lot of traffic, a lot of movement. A lot of people are using our streets. Any type of high-speed chase is inappropriate,โ€ he told reporters.

Harry carried out several TV interviews this year to promote his best-selling memoir โ€œSpare,โ€ which has broken publishing records.

In the book and subsequent interviews, Harry aired a barrage of criticism at other royals, including elder brother Prince William.

He claimed William physically attacked him during an argument about Meghan and also detailed his strained relationship with his father, King Charles.

Harry attended his fatherโ€™s coronation earlier this month without Meghan, who remained in California with the coupleโ€™s two children.

Harry was not given a formal role in the ceremony and was absent from the royal procession through central London. Nor did he join other members of the royal family on the Buckingham Palace balcony.


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