Gayle King has spoken out against critics of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who have “downplayed” a “car chase” that the couple were involved in last week.
The CBS Mornings host said it was “troubling” to hear people make light of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s experience, which also involved the duchess’s mother, Dorian Ragland.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s spokesperson released a statement on Thursday (18 May) and said they experienced a “near catastrophic case chase” in New York involving “highly aggressive” paparazzi.
In the following days, pundits and paparazzi have thrown doubt on the Sussexes’s version of the events, which occurred immediately after they left the Ms. Foundation gala in the city on Tuesday night (16 May).
King, who met Harry and Meghan through her best friend Oprah Winfrey, told PageSix: “I think it was a very unfortunate incident. It’s troubling to me that anybody would try to downplay what that would mean to them. That’s very troubling to me.”
She added that it was “unsettling” that some people have tried to “minimise how [Harry and Meghan] felt in that moment”.
“I’m just really sorry it happened and very sorry they had to go through it,” the broadcast journalist continued. “Everybody can have all of their opinions but I always go back to, ‘How did they feel in that moment?’”
The couple’s spokesperson said last week that the “relentless pursuit” lasted “over two hours” and “resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two [police] officers”.
While New York City Mayor Eric Adams condemned the paparazzi’s actions, he added that is was “hard to believe that there was a two-hour high speed chase”. However, he said that an incident lasting even 10 minutes could have been “extremely dangerous”.
The New York Police Department described the journey as “challenging” but said there were “no reported collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests”.
Backgrid USA Inc, the agency that hired four freelance photographers to cover the gala that the Sussexes attended, insisted that the couple were “not in immediate danger at any point” during the incident.
In a statement, the agency disputed the couple’s claims and said it was one of the four SUVs escorting Harry and Meghan through the city that was “driving in a manner that could be perceived as reckless”.
However, Backgrid said it was “taking Prince Harry’s allegations seriously” and does “not condone any form of harassment or illegal activity”.
Harry and Meghan have since demanded that the agency hand over pictures and videos taken during the encounter.
A letter from their lawyers said: “We hereby demand that Backgrid immediately provide us with copies of all photos, videos, and/or films taken last night by the freelance photographers after the couple left their event and over the next several hours.”
But Backgrid’s legal team responded by mocking the couple and said: “In America, as I’m sure you know, property belongs to the owner of it: Third parties cannot just demand it be given to them, as perhaps Kings can do.”
