The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly demanded a celebrity photo agency hand over images taken during what the royal couple said was a “near-catastrophic” chase with “a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi”.
Backgrid, a California-based entertainment picture agency, said on Thursday it rejected the request, which was laid out in a letter from the Sussexes’ legal team, demanding it provide the images taken on Tuesday in New York City.
The episode, which has echoes of the death of Harry’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who was killed when her car crashed while being followed by paparazzi in Paris in 1997, is said to have happened after the couple and Meghan’s mother attended an awards ceremony.
Backgrid told the BBC the letter stated: “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.”
The agency told the broadcaster it had replied: “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.
“Perhaps you should sit down with your client and advise them that his English rules of royal prerogative to demand that the citizenry hand over their property to the crown were rejected by this country long ago.
“We stand by our founding fathers.”
Backgrid and the Sussexes have been contacted for comment.
Harry and Meghan’s account has been disputed, with police confirming there had been no reported collisions, injuries or arrests, while Backgrid denied that the paparazzi behaved aggressively, even suggesting that the Sussexes’ vehicle was driven erratically. A taxi driver briefly involved has also cast doubt on the couple’s statement.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, was asked about the incident during an interview with the BBC in Japan, where he is attending the G7 summit.
Pressed if he had sympathy with a possible invasion of privacy or safety, Sunak said: “I think just as all of us do, we want to make sure that we go about our day-to-day lives in safety and security.
“My job as prime minister is to ensure everyone feels safe in our country. That’s why we put 20,000 more police officers on the street. It’s why we’re giving them the powers to tackle things like knife crime.”
After being told the incident under discussion happened in the US, Sunak said: “Cars in New York are not really my priority or my responsibility. What is my priority and responsibility is people’s safety at home.”
