Prince Harry, his spouse Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and her mom, Doria Ragland, had been concerned in a “close to catastrophic” automobile chase whereas being adopted by paparazzi on Tuesday evening in New York Metropolis, a spokesperson mentioned.
“Final evening, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms. Ragland had been concerned in a close to catastrophic automobile chase by the hands of a hoop of extremely aggressive paparazzi,” an announcement mentioned, calling the chase a “relentless pursuit” that lasted over two hours and concerned the New York Police Division.
The couple’s assertion didn’t specify who was driving their car or the place the chase occurred, however Meghan was in Midtown Manhattan to attend the Girls of Imaginative and prescient awards, on the Ziegfeld Ballroom, the place she was one of many honorees.
The Police Division didn’t but have a report obtainable. However Mayor Eric Adams instructed reporters at an unrelated information convention on Wednesday morning that he had been instructed that “two of our officers might have been injured” and condemned what occurred as “a bit reckless and irresponsible.”
“It’s clear that the press, the paparazzi, they need to get the suitable shot,” Mr. Adams mentioned. “However public security should at all times be on the forefront.”
The mayor mentioned he anticipated to be briefed in depth later within the day, including, “I’d discover it arduous to imagine that there was a two-hour excessive pace chase.” However even a 10-minute pursuit can be “extraordinarily harmful in New York Metropolis. We now have a whole lot of visitors, a whole lot of motion, lots of people are utilizing our streets.”
He added that “you shouldn’t be dashing wherever” within the metropolis, and invoked the reminiscence of Harry’s mom, Princess Diana, who died in 1997 in a crash in Paris as her car was being pursued by paparazzi.
“I don’t suppose there’s many people who don’t recall how his Mother died,” Mr. Adams mentioned, “and it might be horrific to lose an harmless bystander throughout a chase like this and for one thing to have occurred to them as properly. I believe that was a bit reckless and irresponsible.”
Buckingham Palace mentioned it had no touch upon the incident.
Harry and Meghan have had an uncomfortable relationship with the paparazzi and a few media organizations, and have taken authorized motion towards a number of British newspapers for intrusions into their privateness. The prince has additionally mentioned that tabloid media harassment of his spouse reminded him of the expertise of his mom.
After Harry and Meghan introduced in 2020 that they’d determined to “step again” as senior members of the royal household, they misplaced their publicly funded safety, each in Britain and abroad. The couple subsequently moved to america, settling in Montecito, Calif.
Issues over private security and tabloid reporting have endured for the couple. Harry filed a authorized declare towards the federal government after Britain’s House Workplace declined to permit him to pay for police safety when he and his household had been within the nation. Final 12 months, a decide in Britain dominated that components of a tabloid report on his battle with the federal government over safety had been defamatory.
Remy Tumin, Mark Landler and Chelsia Rose Marcius contributed reporting.
