New York: In a scary incident, Prince Harry, his wife Meghan Markle and her mother were involved in a “near catastrophic” car chase after being followed by paparazzi.
The maddening chase took place after the couple attended Women of Vision Award ceremony in New York, Reuters reported quoting Duke of Sussex’s spokesperson.
“Last night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi. This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD (New York Police Department) officers,” the spokesperson said in a statement today.
“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. Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved,” the statement added.
It was the first public event Harry attended since his father King Charles III’s coronation earlier this month.
Meghan, who was presented the award, encouraged women to find inspiration to fight for equity.
“It’s never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life… There is still so much work to be done. I am a woman who remains inspired and driven by this organisation,” she said, looking towards Women of Vision co-founder Gloria Steinem.
“It allowed me to recognise that part of my greater value and purpose in life was to advocate for those who felt unheard, to stand up to injustice, and to not be afraid of saying what is true and what is just and what is right,” she added.
Harry has been quite vocal about media/paparazzi intrusion into royal family members’ life, and blames them for the death of his mother Princess Diana.
Diana was killed in a high-speed chase in Paris in 1997 when their car was trying to flee the paparazzi.
Harry and Meghan stepped down from their royal roles in 2020 and moved to the US to escape intense media harassment.
