Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
Talking their fact. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle slammed reviews that their involvement in a automotive chase earlier this month was a publicity stunt.
“Respectfully, contemplating the Duke’s household historical past, one must suppose nothing of the couple or anyone related to them to imagine this was any kind of PR stunt,” Ashley Hansen, a spokesperson for the Sussexes, advised The New York Instances in an article revealed Friday, Might 19. “Fairly frankly, I feel that’s abhorrent.”
The Spare creator and the Fits alum’s response comes days after they had been chased by “a hoop of extremely aggressive” photographers after leaving the 2023 Ladies of Imaginative and prescient Awards in New York Metropolis on Might 16. Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, was additionally within the taxi with the couple on the time.
“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in a number of close to collisions involving different drivers on the highway, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” a spokesperson for Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday, Might 17, calling the incident “close to catastrophic.”
The assertion continued: “Whereas being a public determine comes with a degree of curiosity from the general public, it ought to by no means come at the price of anybody’s security. Dissemination of those photos, given the methods through which they had been obtained, encourages a extremely intrusive follow that’s harmful to all concerned.”
A supply solely advised Us Weekly on the time that the trio “had been terrified all through the entire ordeal” and “nonetheless very upset” over the incident.
Chris Sanchez, a member of Harry and Meghan’s safety group, recalled the “chaotic” state of affairs in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, claiming it “may have been deadly.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry MEGA
“I’ve by no means seen [or] skilled something like this. What we had been coping with was very chaotic. There have been a few dozen automobiles: vehicles, scooters and bicycles,” he alleged. “The general public had been in jeopardy at a number of factors. It may have been deadly. They had been leaping curbs and purple lights. At one level they blocked the limousine [carrying the couple] and began taking footage till we had been capable of get out.”
Nonetheless, the motive force of the Sussexes’ car, Sukhcharn Singh, had a unique perspective. When recalling his model of occasions, he mentioned that reviews of the passengers being in peril had been “exaggerated.”
“I used to be on 67th Road after which the safety guard hailed me. Subsequent factor you understand, Prince Harry and his spouse had been hopping into my cab,” the cab driver advised BBC on Thursday, Might 18. “They seemed nervous, I feel they had been being chased the entire day or one thing. They had been fairly nervous, however the safety guard, he was on it.”
With regards to the concept that Harry, Meghan and her mother had been concerned in a harmful state of affairs, Singh responded: “I don’t suppose that’s true, I feel that’s all exaggerated and stuff like that. Don’t learn an excessive amount of into that.”
A number of celebrities — together with Megyn Kelly and Caitlyn Jenner — have additionally known as Harry and Meghan’s expertise into query. Gayle King, in the meantime, defended the Archewell cofounders.
“It’s troubling to me that anyone would attempt to downplay what that will imply to them. That’s very troubling to me,” the CBS This Morning journalist, 68, advised Web page Six on Saturday, Might 20.
Harry has lengthy been vocal about defending his household — together with son Archie, 4, and daughter Lilibet, 23 months — significantly after dropping his mother, Princess Diana, in a automotive crash in 1997. The deadly accident occurred whereas the then-Princess of Wales was being chased by paparazzi.
Days after the automotive chase in New York Metropolis, a London choose denied Harry’s request to rent his personal police safety whereas within the U.Ok. (Harry and Meghan moved to California after stepping down from their roles as senior royals in 2020.)
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Although the Invictus Video games founder’s group acknowledged in 2022 that Harry “inherited a safety danger at start, for all times” as a member of the royal household, the British authorities argued earlier this month that police affords are for the general public’s greatest curiosity and never “non-public bodyguards for the rich.”
