Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were forced to seek refuge at a New York City police station after being relentlessly pursued by paparazzi on Tuesday night. The couple, along with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, had been attending a charity event in Midtown Manhattan when they were followed by photographers for over two hours.
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In a statement released after the incident, a spokesperson for the couple said, “This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.” They added that the “near catastrophic car chase” came “at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.”
The couple spent Tuesday night in the Upper East Side of Manhattan and didn’t want photographers to know where they were staying, law enforcement sources told NBC News. However, photographers followed the couple for 75 minutes up and down the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, the main thoroughfare of Manhattan’s East Side.
The couple’s ride was described as “a bit chaotic” by law enforcement sources, but the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of public information, Julian Phillips, said officers “assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.” He added that “there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in regard.”
This incident serves as a reminder of the dangers of the media’s relentless pursuit and the need for privacy and protection for public figures. For the couple, the incident brings back painful memories of Princess Diana’s tragic death in a Paris car crash while being pursued by paparazzi in 1997.
Harry has been vocal about his struggles with the media, saying in a February 2021 interview on “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” “We all know what the British press can be like and it was destroying my mental health. This is toxic,” he said, adding the media had created a “really difficult” environment for the couple. “So I did what any husband and what any father would do — I need to get my family out of here.”
He has also expressed his fear that history could repeat itself with his wife facing the same intense scrutiny as his mother. “I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side because I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago,” he said in a 2019 documentary about the couple, “Harry & Meghan: An African Journey.”
Since stepping down as senior royals in January 2020 and moving to California, the couple has repeatedly complained about the lengths the media goes to pursue them. They have won privacy cases against several media outlets, with more still outstanding. Harry has also accused newspapers of using unlawful methods to target him and his family.
In a statement released after the incident in New York, the couple 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 couple’s visit to New York was their first public appearance since King Charles III’s coronation, which Meghan did not attend. The couple attended the Women of Vision Awards and departed New York’s Ziegfeld Ballroom at about 10 p.m., NYPD officials said. Meghan’s mom, Doria Ragland, also attended the event.
