In a bone-chilling incident reminiscent of Princess Diana’s tragic fate, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle found themselves in a harrowing encounter with paparazzi on Tuesday night, resulting in what has been described by their representatives as a “near catastrophic car chase”.
The Duke’s mother-in-law, Doria Ragland, who joined Harry and Meghan at the Women of Vision Awards, held at the city’s Ziegfeld Ballroom nearly suffered the same fate.
The “highly aggressive paparazzi” for over two hours subjected the family to “a near catastrophic car chase.”
This according to the couple’s spokesperson “resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.”
Harry and Meghan who feel more estranged from the Royal Family believe that despite the fact that “being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave the Women of Vision Gala @anadoluagency pic.twitter.com/SAL8cBYbMz
— L. Vural Elibol (@vuralelibol) May 17, 2023
Detailing how the lives of Harry and Meghan were saved, the source said a NYPD protective team followed Harry and Meghan in another car, and they had to try some evasive maneuvers to get away from the paparazzi.
There were a lot of close calls including short stops between front and backs of cars – but there was no car accident.
The late Princess of Wales, Princess Diana died in 1997 after suffering internal injuries resulting from a high-speed car crash in Paris.
In the couple’s Netflix six-part docuseries Harry pushed back against critics who have said they’ve “got such a problem with paparazzi.”
“Back in my mum’s day, it was physical harassment – cameras in your face, following you, chasing you,” he explained.
“Paparazzi still harass people,” he added. “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.”