Global Courant 2023-05-17 19:18:48
By Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Harry, his wife Meghan and her mother were involved in a “near catastrophic chase” involving paparazzi photographers after they attended an awards ceremony in New York, a spokesman for the prince said on Wednesday.
The incident involved half a dozen cars with blacked-out windows, which were driving dangerously and endangering the lives of the couple, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, their spokesperson said.
“Last night the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Mrs Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a group of very aggressive paparazzi,” the spokesman said in a statement.
“This relentless pursuit, which lasted more than two hours, resulted in multiple near misses involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD (New York Police Department) police officers.”
The couple was shaken by the incident but otherwise unharmed.
The prince has long spoken out about his anger at press intrusion which he blames for the death of his mother Princess Diana, who was killed when her limousine crashed as it drove away from chasing paparazzi in Paris in 1997.
The couple’s spokesperson said the chase on Tuesday, after exiting the Ziegfeld Ballroom in midtown Manhattan, could also have been deadly and involved paparazzi driving on the sidewalk, running red lights and taking photos.
According to the spokesperson, those involved in the pursuit were approached several times by police officers. A spokesman for the New York Police Department said he could not confirm any information about the incident.
The Ms. Foundation for Women, the organizer of the award ceremony where Meghan was honored for her work, did not immediately comment.
‘VERY INtrusive PRACTICE’
Photos that have since emerged on social media show Harry, Meghan and her mother sitting in the back of a New York taxi, which their spokesman said showed “a small glimpse of the defenses and decoys needed to make a to end the harassment”.
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The couple, who live in California with their two young children, were staying in a private home but had decided not to return because they didn’t want to jeopardize that person’s safety, their spokesman said.
“While being a public figure brings with it a degree of public interest, it should never come at the expense of anyone’s safety,” the spokesman said. “Distribution of these images, given the way they were obtained, encourages a very intrusive practice that is dangerous for all involved.”
Harry has never hidden his aversion to the press, fueled by the treatment his mother received and by his own experiences, especially when he was young.
In his memoir “Spare”, the couple’s Netflix documentary series and TV interviews, he has railed against British tabloids invading his and his family’s privacy, and it was one of the main reasons he and Meghan gave for stepping down from their royal roles in 2020 and moving to the United States.
The Prince is currently involved in numerous court cases in London, where he has accused newspapers of using unlawful methods to target him and his family. While newspapers dismiss almost all of his allegations, a publisher last week apologized for illegally seeking information about him in 2004.
He is also trying to reverse a decision by the British government to remove his specialist police protection when he is in Britain.
(Reporting by Michael Holden and Jonathan Allen in New York; editing by Kylie MacLellan, Bernadette Baum, and Alex Richardson)
