New York: Following a charity event in New York, photographers in cars chased after Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the couple's office reported on Wednesday.
After leaving the event, a half-dozen cars with blacked-out windows followed the couple and Meghan's mother for more than two hours, according to their office.
The chase "resulted in numerous near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians, and two NYPD officers," according to a statement from their office. The incident was described as "near catastrophic."
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Princess Diana, Harry's mother, was being pursued by paparazzi in Paris when she was killed in a car accident in 1997. The NYPD did not immediately respond to requests for clarification or confirmation of the royals' account of the incident.
While there is some public interest associated with being a public figure, it should never come at the expense of anyone's safety, the couple said in a statement.
Since the British government denied Harry and Meghan protection when they moved to California in 2020, security has been a problem. It also comes up in three of his legal cases against the government and the tabloid press.
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The pursuit took place on the same day that Harry's attorney argued in court in London that he ought to be able to contest a government decision denying him the right to pay for police protection on his own in the UK.
During a brief visit to the UK in July 2021, Harry claims his safety was "compromised due to the absence of police protection" when his car was pursued by photographers as he left a charity event.
After former President Donald Trump said the US government wouldn't pay to protect them, the couple claimed they paid for their own security. The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan, had travelled to New York to accept the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Award alongside LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of Black Voters Matter.
The gala marked the beginning of the foundation's $100 million, 12-month fundraising drive, which will be used to advance its mission of advancing the collective power of women and its equity-centered initiatives.
In front of her mother Doria Ragland, Meghan recalled how growing up with Ms. Magazine constantly present had a negative impact on her outlook on life.
She turned to face Gloria Steinem, the other co-founder of the Ms. Foundation, and said, "I am a woman who continues to be inspired and driven by this organisation. "It allowed me to recognise that speaking up for those who felt ignored, standing up to injustice, and not being afraid to say what is true, what is just, and what is right was part of my greater value and purpose in life."
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She made her first public appearance at the occasion after skipping her father-in-law King Charles III's coronation earlier this month in order to celebrate her son Prince Archie's fourth birthday at home in California. Prince Harry, her husband, went to the coronation in London before rushing back to California