Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were trailed in their car by photographers as they left a New York City charity event on Tuesday night, local time, briefly taking refuge at a police station before being whisked away in a yellow cab.
After an award ceremony in Manhattan, Harry and Meghan's vehicle was followed by photographers in a scene that their office said "resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers".
The couple's office called the incident a "near catastrophic car chase".
"While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone's safety," the couple's office said in a statement.
Police intervened and, assisting the couple's private security detail, led them to a police station about 18 blocks from the ballroom, a law enforcement official told the AP.
The couple spent several minutes at the police station, waiting for the situation to de-escalate.
Once it was safe, they left in a taxi, according to the official, who was not authorised to speak publicly about the matter and did so on condition of anonymity.
The pursuit and resultant media frenzy evoked memories of the 1997 car chase through Paris that ended up with the death of Prince Harry's mother, Diana, the Princess of Wales — though in this case, police said, no one was hurt.
However, when their spokesperson said that they had been dangerously pursued by paparazzi in a "near catastrophic car chase" through the streets of Manhattan, it set off alarms at several levels.
The account led New York City Mayor Eric Adams to condemn the paparazzi chasing them as "reckless and irresponsible".
"You shouldn't be speeding anywhere, but this is a densely-populated city," he said.
"I don't think there's many of us who don't recall how his mum died, and it would be horrific to lose innocent bystanders."
Later, police said the pursuit was relatively short and led to no injuries, collisions or arrests, and warranted no further investigation.
"There were numerous photographers [who] made their transport challenging," Julian Phillips, the NYPD's chief spokesperson, said in a statement.
"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests."
The cab driver who drove them from the police station said he instantly recognised his passengers and that paparazzi "were following us the whole time", although he said wouldn't call it a chase.
"They had this look on their faces," the driver, Sukhcharn Singh, said.
"All of a sudden paparazzi came out and started taking pictures."
Police issued a short statement confirming an incident on Tuesday night, local time, involving photographers and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who were accompanied by Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland.
The award presentation was Meghan’s first public appearance since she skipped the coronation of her father-in-law King Charles III earlier this month in order to stay at home in California for her son Prince Archie’s fourth birthday. Harry attended the coronation.
Fury at the press
Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, and the former actress Meghan Markle married at Windsor Castle in 2018. They stepped down as working royals in 2020, citing what they described as the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media.
Harry's fury at the media has been building for years. He blames an overly aggressive press for the death of his mother, and also accuses the media of hounding Meghan.
"My deepest fear is history repeating itself,'' Harry said in a 2019 statement when Meghan filed suit against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday.
Harry has made it his mission to reform the press and is suing three British tabloid publishers over alleged phone hacking and other unlawful snooping.
In 2021, Meghan won an invasion of privacy case in 2021 against the publisher of the Daily Mail.
Security for Harry and Meghan has been an issue since the British government stripped them of protection when they moved to California in 2020 and it figures in three of his legal cases against the government and tabloid press.
The pursuit in New York occurred the same day a lawyer for Harry argued in a London court that he should be able to challenge a government decision denying him the right to pay police for his own security in the UK.
Harry has argued his safety was "compromised due to the absence of police protection" during a short visit to the UK in July 2021, when his car was chased by photographers as he left a charity event.
The couple have said they funded their own security after former president Donald Trump said the US government would not pay to protect them.
Simon Morgan — a former royalty protection officer who now runs private security firm Trojan Consultancy — told the BBC that paparazzi involvement was part of a security team's threat and risk matrix.
"They want the best shot ... that they can get, and they will sometimes block cars so that they can take the best shot," he said.
"They will go onto the pavement so that they can take the best shot, because these photographs are extremely valuable to the individual that takes them. So there's a lot of money that is going to change hands.
"So they will go to extreme lengths to get that picture."
He also told ABC News Radio the couple's security team would have put together a contingency plan in the event of risks, and that some negotiation would have been required with photographers.
"The press or the paparazzi became a constant thorn in your side," he said.
Wires/ABC
