Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland, escaped a “near catastrophic car chase” by the paparazzi on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the couple.
“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” the spokesperson said. “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 report brought to mind the horrific death of Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, in 1997. She and boyfriend Dodi Fayed were killed in a car crash while being chased by paparazzi in Paris.
On Tuesday evening, Meghan, Harry and Ragland had just attended the gala for the Ms. Foundation for Women, where the Duchess of Sussex received a Woman of Vision Award.
They departed the midtown Manhattan event in an SUV at around 10 p.m., and the chaos immediately unfolded. About a dozen paparazzi gave chase when the family headed to a friend’s house, and one hit a car while another nearly flattened a New York police officer, according to a source.
The source said the drivers also ran red lights, reversed down a one-way street and drove on the sidewalk.
CNN reported there were close calls but no car crash, citing a law enforcement source. Still, the source described the incident as dangerous and said police escorting the trio had to use evasive maneuvers to escape the paparazzi. The law enforcement source reportedly called the incident “annoying, inappropriate and dangerous.”
Chris Sanchez, a member of the royals’ security team, told CNN that the photographers’ actions also put members of the general public at risk.
“The public were in jeopardy at several points,” Sanchez said. “It could have been fatal. They were jumping curbs and red lights.”
TMZ, which obtained partial video of the incident, wrote that the trio appeared to ditch the SUV and get into a cab for their getaway while police may have gone in another direction as a decoy.
The NYPD said in a statement on Wednesday that there were no serious consequences.
“The NYPD assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” the department said. “There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called the pursuit “reckless and irresponsible” and said “two of our officers could have been injured,” The Associated Press reported.
Carly Ledbetter contributed reporting.
