Harry & Meghan Say They Were Followed By Paparazzi For Hours In “Near Catastrophic” Chase

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended a gala event for the Ms. Foundation in New York City on Tuesday evening with the Duchess of Sussex’s mom Doria Ragland. As they were leaving the event, the three were involved in a “near catastrophic” car chase that lasted for two hours and resulted in multiple collisions, according to a statement by a Sussex spokesperson.

In a statement released to the media on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the couple shared information about a car chase involving Meghan, Harry, and Ragland. “Last night, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms. Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi,” the statement read. “This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers. 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. Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved.”

Meghan and Harry’s two children, 4-year-old son Archie and almost 2-year-old daughter Lilibet, were thankfully not involved.

Royal correspondent Omid Scobie reported on Twitter, “Despite being confronted by uniformed police multiple times, the paparazzi’s cars continued their pursuit in trying to follow the Sussexes and Doria to the private residence they were staying at. Traffic violations by the drivers include driving on a sidewalk, going through red lights, reversing down a one way street, driving while photographing and illegally blocking a moving vehicle.”

Two British tabloids, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, reportedly briefly published photos of the couple taken during the chase early Wednesday morning before deleting them from their respective sites.

Fortunately, according to Scobie’s reporting, Harry, Meghan, and her mother “are understandably shaken but thankful everyone is safe,” citing a source close to them.

Prince Harry’s own mother Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 while being chased by the paparazzi. In a 2019 interview with Tom Bradby in Africa, the father of two admitted that he was terrified of “history repeating itself” and that he would “always protect [his] family” in the face of media scrutiny and pressure. Last year, Prince Harry lobbed a lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, the publisher behind the Daily Mail, for breach of privacy issues. He won the lawsuit, and the paper was forced to issue an apology.