- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were chased by paparazzi after leaving an event on Tuesday night.
- Their spokesman said the entire ordeal lasted about two hours and was “close to disaster”.
- “Civilians were at risk in many places,” said a member of the royal family’s security department told CNN.
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland were “chased” by paparazzi after leaving an event in Manhattan on Tuesday night, representatives of the royal couple said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Sussexes said a “highly aggressive ring of paparazzi” followed the royal family as they made their way home from the awards ceremony and the “near disaster chase” lasted “over two hours”.
“This relentless pursuit, which lasted more than two hours, resulted in multiple collisions involving other drivers, pedestrians and two NYPD officers on the road,” Sussex’s spokesman said in a statement. Royals reporter Omit Skobi shared.
Here is the timeline of events.
At around 10pm on Tuesday, Harry and Meghan left the Ziegfeld Ballroom on West 54th Street.
On Tuesday night, Harry, Meghan and Ragland attended the Ms. Foundation Women’s Vision Awards in Manhattan, where Meghan gave a speech. It marked the royal couple’s first official joint appearance in five months.
As a witness, the couple entered the Ziegfeld Ballroom, where the event was held, through a nearby Hertz car rental location to fool photographers. told the New York Post.
After the show, around 10 p.m., They were found again Near Hertz on West 55th Street. They got into an SUV and began their journey, video from The Telegraph shows.
A video showed Harry and Meghan mobbed by photographers before the reported chase began. A paparazzo tried to get Meghan’s attention, asking her to come from “two broken families,” referring to her relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, and Prince Harry’s rift with King Charles and Prince William.
For 75 minutes, Harry, Meghan, Ragland and a bodyguard reportedly traveled down Manhattan Parkway in an SUV while photographers followed.
Unnamed law enforcement sources told NBC News Running on the east side of Manhattan is the Franklin D. Photographers followed the pair on Roosevelt East River Drive for 75 minutes.
Six vehicles followed the group with blacked-out windows so they couldn’t see who was following them, Scobie said.
Scobie tweeted that the drivers had promised Multiple traffic violations When they followed Sussex and Rockland, the charges included “driving on the sidewalk, going through red lights, turning on a one-way street, driving while taking photos and unlawfully obstructing a moving vehicle.”
Police have not arrested anyone in connection with the incident and have not confirmed how long the raid lasted.
“The NYPD assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Tuesday night,” NYPD spokesman Julian Phillips told Insider in a statement.
The statement continued: “Several photographers have challenged their transport. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made it to their destination and there were no collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests.”
Chris Sanchez, a member of Harry and Meghan’s security team, To CNN, “I’ve never seen or experienced anything like this. It was quite a mess we were dealing with. There were about a dozen vehicles: cars, scooters and bicycles.”
He continued, “Civilians were at risk in many places. “It could have been dangerous. They were jumping barriers and red lights. At one point they stopped the limousine and started taking pictures until we got out.”
The party arrived at the NYPD’s 19th Precinct station house
The 19th Precinct Station House on East 67th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues is 1.4 miles from the Ziegfeld Ballroom.
The group stayed at the 19th Precinct for 15 minutes before departing in a New York City Yellow Taxi. The Daily Mail reported.
15 minutes after arriving at the complex, Harry, Meghan, Ragland and Sanchez boarded a carriage outside.
said cab driver Suksharn Singh The Washington Post He escorted Harry, Meghan, “an older black woman” and a security guard out of the compound around 11 p.m. He said he got the impression the paparazzi were already following them before they even got into his car.
Sanchez, a member of the security team, told CNN that Harry and Meghan switched cars during the car chase in an attempt to avoid the paparazzi.
Singh drove the group a block and a half to Park Avenue before turning south. Singh said Post Minutes into the trip, the security guard traveling with them became “concerned” about two vehicles following them: a black Honda Accord and an older gray Honda CR-V.
A The video was published by TMZ It showed the couple stuck in traffic in a yellow taxi as photographers filmed them through the windows.
“They followed us and came next to the car,” Singh told the Post. “They took pictures when we stopped and were filming us.”
The carriage was escorted by NYPD vehicles with flashing lights and video footage.
After 10 minutes in the cab, the group returned to the 19th Precinct at the request of the security team.
Fearing that the photographers would discover their ultimate destination, the security guard told Singh to return to their original drop-off spot, the Post reported.
“I don’t think I would call it a chase,” Singh told The Post of Travel. “I never felt like I was in danger. It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but it’s New York — it’s safe.”
Harry, Meghan, Ragland and Sanchez left the compound and got into another car without being followed.
They got out without incident and arrived at the apartment where they were staying, NBC News reported.
Buckingham Palace told Insider the incident was “not something we comment on”.
Editor’s Note: May 18, 2023 — The headline of this story originally included an uncredited quote from a Sussex spokesperson. Prince Harry and Meghan were in a car chase, not a “catastrophic car chase,” the headline now says.
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