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Harry and Meghan in ‘Near Catastrophic’ Car Chase in New York

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


New York City Mayor Eric Adams has spoken out since it was announced that Prince Harry and his wife, Duchess Meghan Markle were involved in a “near catastrophic chase” with paparazzi in New York.

“You shouldn’t be speeding anywhere, but this is a densely populated city, and I think all of us, I don’t think there’s many of us who don’t recall how his mom died,” he said to reporters at a press briefing that was unrelated to the incident.

“It’s clear that the paparazzi want to get the right shot, they want to get the right story, but public safety must always be at the forefront,” he said.

It comes after a spokesperson for the couple detailed the near tragedy.

“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,” 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 (New York Police Department) officers,” they said.

Sky News reported.

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The chase happened after Meghan and Harry had attended an awards ceremony at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York on Tuesday – their first public appearance since the King’s coronation.

Pictures that have appeared on social media have shown Harry, Meghan and her mother, Doria Ragland, in a taxi.

The Duchess of Sussex received a Woman of Vision award at the ceremony in New York as she encouraged women to fight for equality as she accepted the award at the Ms Foundation for Women’s annual gala.

“It’s never too late to start,” she said at the event in New York. “You can be the visionary of your own life… There is still so much work to be done.”

Harry and Meghan stepped down from their royal roles in 2020 and moved to the United States partly because of what they described as intense media harassment.

Given the way Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, was killed in a paparazzi chase the comparisons are chilling.

“Breaking on CNN right now A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan were involved in ‘near catastrophic car chase’ involving paparazzi in NY. You can’t see this and not think of what happened to Harry’s mom Princess Diana,” CNN anchor Sara Sidner said.

“The Duke & Duchess of Sussex spokesperson says they had to deal with the relentless pursuit by paparazzi for 2 hours in Manhattan @maxfoster and @johnmiller reporting photogs were in cars, scooters, motorcycles going on sidewalks and all around their vehicle Both are ok,” the anchor said.

“CNN’s John Miller’s sources inside the NYPD confirmed there was a chase. Police had to stop traffic and get the couple to a precinct for a while to keep them safe. Miller said police described the chase as ‘annoying, inappropriate and dangerous,” she said.

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But some, including former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, have cast doubt on the story.

“This video proves Meghan and Harry LIED! The two police cars turned right at the traffic lights, their taxi went straight on! They literally staged the whole thing and the NYPD were NOT escorting them,” one Twitter user said with video.

“I lived in Manhattan for 17 yrs & it is not possible to have a 2hr “car chase” there. Too many street lights/stop signs, too much foot/car traffic & hundreds of places you could safely pull over to protect yourself,” Kelly said.

In the couple’s six-part documentary series on Netflix Prince Harry ironically pushed back on critics of the paparazzi.

“Back in my mum’s day, it was physical harassment – cameras in your face, following you, chasing you,” the prince said.

“Paparazzi still harass people,” he said. “But the harassment really exists more online now. Once the photographs are out and the stories then put next to it, then comes the social media harassment. To see another woman in my life, who I love, go through this feeding frenzy – that’s hard. It is basically the hunter versus the prey.”

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