NEW YORK (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were chased by photographers in cars after a charity event in New York, the couple’s office said Wednesday.
The couple, along with Meghan’s mother, were followed for more than two hours by half a dozen vehicles with tinted windows after leaving the event, her office said.
His office said in a statement that the pursuit “resulted in multiple near misses involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.” He called the incident “almost catastrophic.”
Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi in Paris.
The NYPD had no immediate comment to describe or corroborate the royal family’s statement about the incident.
“While being a public figure comes with a level of public interest, it should never come at the expense of anyone’s safety,” the couple said.
Security for Harry and Meghan has been an issue since the British government stripped them of protection when they moved to California in 2020 and is featured in three of their legal cases against the government and the tabloid press.
The chase came on the same day a lawyer for Harry argued in a London court that he should be able to challenge a government decision to deny him the right to pay police for his own safety in the UK.
Harry has argued that his safety was “compromised due to the absence of police protection” during a brief visit to the UK in July 2021, when his car was chased by photographers as he left a charity event.
The couple have said they funded their own security after former President Donald Trump said the US government would not pay to protect them.
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, had been in New York to accept the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision with Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown.
The gala kicked off the foundation’s largest fundraising campaign, $100 million over the next 12 months, which will be used to advance the organization’s equity-focused initiatives and its mission to ‘advancement of the collective power of women.
With her mother, Doria Ragland, in the audience, Meghan explained how Ms. Magazine was always in his home and how it affected his worldview.
“I am a woman who continues to be inspired and driven by this organization,” she said, looking at co-founder Ms. Foundation, Gloria Steinem. “It allowed me to recognize that part of my greatest worth and purpose in life was standing up for those who didn’t feel heard, standing up to injustice, and not being afraid to say what was true, what was fair, and what was right.”
The event was her first public appearance since she skipped her father-in-law King Charles III’s coronation earlier this month to stay home in California for her son Prince Archie’s fourth birthday. Her husband, Prince Harry, attended the coronation in London and then returned to California.
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Kirka reported from London.
