Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were involved in a “dangerous” car chase as they were chased by paparazzi on Tuesday night in New York.
The two were traveling with Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, in an SUV after the former Combinations the actress was honored at the Women of Vision Awards in Manhattan.
The three got into an SUV around 10 p.m. and were followed by paparazzi for “more than two hours”, a representative for Harry and Meghan said.
“Last night the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Mrs. Ragland were involved in a near disastrous car chase at the hands of a circle of very aggressive paparazzi,” the rep said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday.
“This relentless chase, which lasted more than two hours, resulted in multiple near misses involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” the statement added.
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The spokesperson urged the media not to buy any photos taken during the chase.
“The release of these images, given the manner in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous for everyone involved,” the rep said.
A source said page 6 chase “started with 12 paparazzi, then ended with four pursuers [Meghan, Harry and Doria].”
“It’s never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life,” Meghan Markle told the Women of Vision Awards in an inspirational speech https://t.co/vRQQj2Trzu
—LBC (@LBC) May 17, 2023
The source said uniformed NYPD officers attempted to intervene, but were “ignored” by photographers. A cameraman rammed another vehicle and a second nearly ran over a police officer, the outlet reported.
As the situation worsened, Harry, Meghan and Doria got out of the SUV and got into a yellow cab in a ‘last ditch effort’ to evade photographers.
Photos of the three and a man who appeared to be a security guard in the front seat of the taxi have already been published by several media outlets.
Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, was killed in a car crash in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi in Paris.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to California after stepping down as senior royals in 2020.
Harry just returned to the United States a week ago, after attending the coronation ceremony of his father, King Charles III, in London.
Harry and Meghan are the parents of Prince Archie, 4, and his 23-month-old daughter, Princess Lilibet.
The couple traveled to New York where Meghan was honored for being “a feminist, a champion of human rights and gender equity and a global role model”.
According to the Women of Vision website, five others have also been recognized. Among the winners were LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter; and Wanda Irving, co-founder of Dr. Shalon’s Maternal Action Project, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing maternal health disparities among black people.