Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Prince Harry and Meghan say New York City car chase was relentless

Prince Harry and Meghan say New York City car chase was relentless

Prince Harry, Meghan and her mother were involved in a "near catastrophic car chase" involving paparazzi, a spokesperson for the couple claimed.

The incident happened after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended an awards ceremony in New York on Tuesday.

In a statement, their spokesperson said the "relentless pursuit" lasted for more than two hours and resulted in "multiple near collisions".

The New York Police Department (NYPD) said there were no arrests or injuries.

BBC News has not been able to independently verify all the details. But accounts and information developed throughout the day on Wednesday.

The NYPD confirmed an incident took place involving Harry and Meghan and said numerous photographers "made their transport challenging".

No injuries or arrests were reported, the police said. Buckingham Palace has not yet commented.

There are claims the chase involved half a dozen cars, with reckless driving including going through red lights, driving on the pavement, carrying out blocking moves, and reversing down a one-way street - as well as taking photographs while driving.

BBC News understands Harry and Meghan were staying at a friend's home, and did not return directly to avoid compromising their security.

The couple and Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, tried to take shelter from the paparazzi by going to a Manhattan police station.

There was then a plan to use a New York taxi, with a yellow cab flagged down and Harry, Meghan, Ms Ragland and a security officer getting inside.

But the vehicle and its occupants were spotted by photographers and they reverted to their own security vehicles.

Cab driver Sukhcharn Singh, who goes by the name Sonny, told BBC News he picked up the four passengers on 67th Street between Lexington Avenue and 3rd Avenue.

"A security guard hailed me, next thing you know Prince Harry and his wife were hopping into my cab," he said.

"As we went a block, we got blocked by a garbage truck and all of a sudden paparazzi came and started taking pictures. They were just about to give me the location of where they were going to go, but then they told me to circle back to the precinct."

He said they were "nice people" who "looked nervous".

He thought claims of a "near catastrophic chase" might have been exaggerated, saying that he did not think the paparazzi were being "aggressive".

"New York is the safest place to be - there's police stations, cops on every corner," he said.

"[The paparazzi] were behind us... they kept their distance."

The passengers paid $50 (£40) for the short journey, he added. Mr Singh's account relates to just 10 minutes of what the Sussexes' spokesperson described as an ordeal lasting more than two hours.

The driver's assessment stands in contrast to that of Chris Sanchez, a member of the couple's security detail, who told CNN the scene was "very chaotic" and that photographers at one point blocked the limousine carrying Harry and Meghan.

"The public were in jeopardy at several points," he said. "It could have been fatal."

The couple use private security while in the US - but Harry is engaged in a legal battle in London over the use of Metropolitan Police protection while he and his family are in the UK.

Meghan appeared alongside her husband and mother to accept an award at the event in New York City


The award ceremony they attended - the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards - was Harry and Meghan's first public appearance together since the King Charles' Coronation earlier this month.

Meghan accepted an award at the event alongside LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of Black Voters Matter.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters that two police officers "could have been injured" and that it "would be horrific to lose an innocent bystander during a chase like this".

Prince Harry and Meghan's statement had never claimed there was a high-speed chase. But it did reference a "relentless pursuit" for more than two hours.

Duncan Larcombe, the author of the book Prince Harry: the Inside Story, told BBC News it appeared "something has gone extremely wrong" with Harry and Meghan's security in the US.

"This will come as a huge surprise for people who used to look after Harry in the UK," he said. "There are huge questions to be asked about whether the paparazzi can still operate in this way."

Prince Harry's mother, Princess Diana, was killed in a 1997 car crash in Paris while being chased by photographers.

In an interview with the BBC for the documentary Diana, 7 Days, Prince Harry referred to the paparazzi as "a pack of dogs" who constantly hounded his mother.

"Every single time she went out there'd be a pack of people waiting for her," he said. "I mean a pack of dogs, followed her, chased her, harassed her, called her names, spat at her, trying to get a reaction, to get that photograph of her lashing out."

Prince Harry is currently involved in multiple legal disputes with the British tabloid press, including allegations of phone hacking and the unlawful gathering of information.

Earlier this week, a lawyer for the prince told a London court that he should be allowed to challenge a government decision that denied him the ability to pay for police protection while in the country.

The pair stepped down from royal duties and moved to the US in 2020 - a move they said was partly due to harassment from UK tabloids.

Prince Harry has described his battle to change the media as his "life's work". Next month he will appear in a London court to give evidence in a phone hacking case.


Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×