Harry and Meghan – latest news: US photo agency mocks couple for ‘royal prerogative’ picture demands

The alleged car chase involving the royal couple is said to have lasted over two hours through the streets of New York

Meghan and Harry's taxi driver speaks out after 'chase'

Rishi Sunak has said “cars in New York are not really my priority” after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s team said they avoided a “near catastrophic car chase” in the US city.

Harry and Meghan were followed by paparazzi after attending an awards ceremony with the duchess’s mother, Doria Ragland, according to a spokesman for the couple.

The New York Police Department said there were no arrests, injuries or reported collisions but said “numerous photographers” had “made their transport difficult” on Tuesday evening.

The Prime Minister said he was “not aware of a particular incident in question” and sought to discuss his domestic policies during an interview with the BBC in Japan, where he is attending a G7 summit.

Pressed if he has sympathy with a possible invasion of privacy or safety, Mr Sunak said: “I think just as all of us do, we want to make sure that we go about our day-to-day lives in safety and security.

Key Points

• Sunak focusing on UK safety rather than Harry and Meghan NY ‘car chase'
• Photo agency mocks Harry and Meghan, refusing to hand over pictures
• New York Police Department (NYPD) full statement
• Royal fans claim paparazzi ‘learned nothing from Diana’ after Meghan and Harry involved in car chase
• Harry and Meghan in ‘near catastrophic car chase’ involving paparazzi

[19 May 2023 17:53 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Harry and Meghan celebrate five years of marriage after ‘near catastrophic’ car chase

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are celebrating their fifth anniversary today (Friday 19 May).

This year’s anniversary is perhaps overshadowed by a recent incident with the paparazzi, where an alleged car chase involving the royal couple is said to have lasted two hours through the streets of New York City on Tuesday night (16 May).

While contrasting accounts of the events are still being unearthed, representatives of the Sussexes have said the incident was “near catastrophic” and that members of the paparazzi involved were “highly aggressive”.

[19 May 2023 18:33 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

A timeline of Harry and Meghan’s ‘two-hour car chase’ in New York

Prince Harry, his wife Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Raglandwere trailed in their car by paparazzi for over two hours after they left a New York City charity event on Tuesday night.

A spokesperson for the royals claimed that they had been pursued by paparazzi in a “near catastrophic car chase“ through the streets of Manhattan.

“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.

[19 May 2023 19:30 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Former Mirror journalist says story on Prince Harry’s ex Chelsy Davy was ‘obtained legally’

A 2004 Daily Mirror article about the Duke of Sussex’s then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy was “obtained legitimately”, a former journalist and news editor has told the High Court.

Harry is one of a number of high-profile figures suing the newspaper’s publisher Mirror Group Newspapers, which also publishes the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, over alleged unlawful information-gathering at its titles.

The duke is one of four “representative” claimants whose cases have been selected for a trial, being heard over six to seven weeks in London.

[19 May 2023 20:30 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Harry and Meghan security guard and cab driver give duelling accounts of ‘chaotic’ paparazzi car chase

The narrative around Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s paparazzi “car chase” has come into confusion after differing accounts from a member of the couple’s security detail and a cab driver who gave them a ride that night.

A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced on Wednesday that a relentless pursuit unfolded the night before after the couple and Ms Markle’s mother Doria Ragland attended an awards ceremony in New York City.

The “two-hour-long” chase reportedly resulted in multiple near collisions involving “other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” the spokesperson said.

[19 May 2023 22:02 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Omid Scobie criticises King Charles and Prince William for ‘failing to contact Prince Harry’ after car chase

Journalist Omid Scobie has singled out King Charles III and the Prince of Wales after it appeared that “not one member” of the royal family reached out to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following their “near-catastrophic” car chase.

It comes after the couple claimed they were pursued “relentlessly” by paparazzi through New York City on Wednesday (17 May).

Scobie, who has authored biographies about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, told BBC Newsnight that the response from the royal family to the incident has been “disappointing” for the couple.

[19 May 2023 23:00 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Voices: Harry and Meghan’s car chase has shocking echoes of Diana

Again and again, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, has fought to defang a rampaging media that he believes is insatiable. Again and again he has been mocked, derided and ignored, Samuel Fishwick writes.

Today, if his spokesperson is to be believed, the prince and his wife the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, were involved in an incident with shocking echoes of the tragic car accident that killed his mother Diana in 1997.

A “near catastrophic” car chase at the hands of a “highly aggressive paparazzi” is reported to have lasted for over two hours, as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Doria Ragland were pursued by six blacked out vehicles.

[20 May 2023 00:00 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Royal fans claim paparazzi ‘learned nothing from Diana’ after Meghan and Harry involved in car chase

Royal fans have expressed their concerns that paparazzi photographers “learned nothing from Diana” after Prince Harry, his wife Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland were reportedly “involved in a near catastrophic car chase” with paparazzi.

“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,” a spokesperson for the couple said in a statement, adding that the “relentless pursuit” lasted “over two hours” and “resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers”.

The incident is said to have occurred on Tuesday after the couple and Ms Ragland attended an awards ceremony in New York City, with the Sussexes reportedly on their way back to the “private residence” where they were staying when they encountered the paparazzi.

[20 May 2023 01:00 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Prince Harry’s fears about ‘history repeating itself’ resurface amid paparazzi car chase

Prince Harry’s fears of “history repeating itself” have gained renewed attention after he and Meghan Markle were allegedly involved in a “near catastrophic car chase” with paparazzi.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were followed by half a dozen vehicles after attending a charity awards ceremony on 16 May in New York City. Prince Harry, his wife Meghan, and her mother Doria Ragland were said to be pursued by paparazzi for more than two hours, resulting in “multiple collisions” with other drivers and pedestrians.

“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,” a spokesperson for the couple said in a statement on Wednesday. “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.”

[20 May 2023 03:00 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

A timeline of Harry and Meghan’s ‘two-hour car chase’ in New York

Prince Harry, his wife Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Raglandwere trailed in their car by paparazzi for over two hours after they left a New York City charity event on Tuesday night.

A spokesperson for the royals claimed that they had been pursued by paparazzi in a “near catastrophic car chase“ through the streets of Manhattan.

“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.

Here is the timeline of the events:

[20 May 2023 04:00 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

ICYMI: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle discuss societal pressures and social media with local youth group

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited a local youth group to discuss some of the everyday societal pressures that children face.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently had a conversation with a group of teens at AHA! Santa Barbara, in honour of Mental Health Awareness Month, which takes place every May.

The California-based organisation “has provided social-emotional education to over 20,000 teens and youth care providers,” per the page’s official website. Through its work, the non-profit also “equips teenagers, educators, and parents with social and emotional intelligence to dismantle apathy, prevent despair, and interrupt hate-based behaviour”.

According to The Archewell Foundation, Harry and Meghan visited this group in order to “learn firsthand about this generation’s experiences with social media and societal pressures, and how it affects their mental well-being”.