NYPD confirms car chase involving Prince Harry, Meghan, photographers

NEW YORK — Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, were pursued in their car by photographers after a charity event in New York, an injury-free incident that the mayor and the couple’s office described Wednesday as potentially dangerous and that drew comparisons to the 1997 fatal car crash of Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.

The New York City police department confirmed the incident involving photographers and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex but said no injuries, collision or arrests took place after Meghan accepted an award from the Ms. Foundation.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters he hadn’t received a full briefing yet, but he called it “reckless and irresponsible” for anyone to be chasing people in vehicles in the densely populated city, and said that “two of our officers could have been injured.”

Harry and Meghan’s office said in a statement that the chase “resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.” It called the incident “near catastrophic.”

“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” the statement from the couple said.

Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, and the former actress Meghan Markle married at Windsor Castle in 2018. They stepped down as working royals in 2020, citing what they described as the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media.

Harry’s fury at the media has been building for years. He blames an overly aggressive press for the death of his mother, and also accuses the media of hounding Meghan.

He has made it his mission to reform the press and is currently suing three British tabloid publishers over alleged phone hacking and other unlawful snooping. Meghan won an invasion of privacy case in 2021 against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

Kirka reported from London; Jill Lawless and Brian Melley in London contributed.