CNN — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were involved in a “near catastrophic car chase” involving paparazzi in New York City on Tuesday night, his spokesperson says.
The couple were followed by a “swarm” of paparazzi, but there was no car accident, according to a law enforcement source.
The incident happened after Harry accompanied Meghan to the Women of Vision Awards, held at the city’s Ziegfeld Ballroom.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were also traveling with Doria Ragland, Meghan’s mother.
A spokesperson for the couple said: “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.”
“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.”
The statement said the couple understand that 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.”
“Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved.”
A law enforcement source said there was a swarm of paparazzi following Meghan and Harry in cars, motorcycles, scooters on Tuesday,
A NYPD protective team followed Harry and Meghan in another car, and they had to try some evasive maneuvers to get away from the paparazzi, the source said.
Paparazzi on the scooters and bikes zoomed down the sidewalk to keep up, the source explains.
There were a lot of close calls including short stops between front and backs of cars – but there was no car accident, according to the source.
The Duke of Sussex has been vocal about the security of his family, often highlighting parallels between his wife’s treatment to that faced by his mother, Diana.
The late Princess of Wales died in 1997 after suffering internal injuries resulting from a high-speed car crash in Paris.
In the couple’s Netflix six-part docuseries Harry pushed back against critics who have said they’ve “got such a problem with paparazzi.”
“Back in my mum’s day, it was physical harassment – cameras in your face, following you, chasing you,” he explained.
“Paparazzi still harass people,” he added. “But the harassment really exists more online now. Once the photographs are out and the stories then put next to it, then comes the social media harassment. To see another woman in my life, who I love, go through this feeding frenzy – that’s hard. It is basically the hunter versus the prey.”