In an especially eerie mirror of the tragic circumstances surrounding Princess Diana‘s death, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, along with Markle’s mom Doria Ragland, were involved in a terrifying “car chase.”
According to NBC News, the couple and law enforcement stated that the car chase was “chaotic” and that they took refuge in a New York City police station as photographers harassed them Tuesday night (May 16) after a charity event.
The event, the Women of Vision Awards at New York’s Ziegfeld Ballroom, took place in Midtown Manhattan, and a spokesperson for the couple said that the following pursuit lasted “two hours.”
“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians, and two NYPD officers,” the spokesperson revealed.
The spokesperson called the incident “near catastrophic,” and said that it was “at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.”
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Apparently, law enforcement sources revealed to the outlet that the couple was trying to avoid paparazzi finding out where they were staying in an undisclosed location in NYC’s Upper East Side neighborhood in Manhattan.
The scary ordeal allegedly actually lasted for around 75 minutes before the couple and Markle’s mother were able to hide out in the NYPD’s 19th Precinct Station House for about 15 minutes before securing a new car.
The NYPD’s deputy commissioner of public information, Julian Phillips, confirmed that they “assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
“There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination, and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in regard,” Phillips said.
“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 couple said in their own statement.
Notably and tragically, Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in a 1997 car crash in Paris while being chased by paparazzi.