Buckingham Palace will not comment on the frightening car chase Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were involved in on May 16, according to People, which noted that the Palace does not typically comment on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s lives after they stepped down as working members of the royal family.
The couple stepped out on Tuesday evening in New York City to attend the Women of Vision Awards at the Ziegfeld Ballroom with Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, in tow. What should have been a peaceful night quickly turned into a nightmare when the royals were relentlessly chased by paparazzi, resulting in a two-hour car chase that endangered everyone involved, according to spokesperson for the couple.
When asked for comment by People, the Palace was silent. Instead, the newly crowned King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden Apple Market, and the Royal Opera House Arcade on Wednesday morning to meet with locals and representatives of surrounding communities.
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Though the Palace hasn’t commented, the Mayor of New York, Eric Adams, shared his feelings on the matter: “It’s clear that the press, paparazzis, they want to get the right shot, they want to get the right story, but public safety must always be at the forefront,” he told reporters, per E! News . A representative for the couple echoed the sentiment, sharing with People: “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 incident brings to mind the deadly paparazzi chase that took Princess Diana’s life in 1997. Prince Harry reflected on his relationship with his mother in his memoir, Spare, and recalled a time he drove through the exact tunnel his mother died in in Paris. “I got the closure I was pretending to seek,” he says in Spare. “I got it in spades. And now I’d never be able to get rid of it. I’d thought driving the tunnel would bring an end, or brief cessation, to the pain, the decade of unrelenting pain. Instead, it brought on the start of Pain, Part Deux.”
