Prince Harry and Meghan in near catastrophic car chase with paparazzi

[Boiler 45,449]

“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.

“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.”

PA Media reported that it was understood that no members of the royal family had contacted Harry and Meghan as of 10pm BST on Wednesday following news of the incident emerging.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/17/prince-harry-and-meghan-in-near-catastrophic-car-chase-with-paparazzi

[TBoneTX 45,259]

Wondered at first if this were a B. Bee article.

Next, had flashbacks to Princess Diana.

[Boiler 45,449]

Exclusive: Prince Harry and Meghan’s security detail says car chase ‘could have been fatal’

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/17/americas/harry-meghan-car-crash-security-details-intl/index.html

[laylalex 7,284]

This is such a weird story. I mean, it sort of isn't -- paparazzi relentlessly pursuing their prey, not caring who's in the way. But the way the NYC mayor is talking about it, it makes it sound somehow not nearly as bad as described by H&M, and still pretty terrifying. I find it hard to believe that there was somehow a 2 hour car pursuit in Manhattan -- LA is another matter. Lots more space, lots more freeways. Manhattan? No. I've been stuck in the back of too many taxis in NYC in bumper to bumper traffic to believe it. However, the mayor didn't deny there was a pursuit at all, and said any length of time driving recklessly -- which he said the paps were doing -- could result in serious injury in such a densely-populated place.

 

On the other hand, I don't think I've seen anything that says the entire pursuit was in a speeding or out of control car. It sounds like they were followed for a long time around the city while they tried to ditch the paparazzi. That sounds irritating, and the near misses sound scary, but there's just a lot of questions I have still. But I can see how Harry would be understandably freaked out by the experience -- even if nothing big happened, it's a callback to what happened to his mother.

 

And yes, I think they're being drama queens, even if I get why Harry blew it out of proportion. 

[Dashinka 24,481]

I thought Harry and Meghan just wanted to be left alone?  Could this have been a Smollet like publicity stunt?

[Boiler 45,449]

 

[TBoneTX 45,259]

You know, what with all the true problems in life, is this the best crisis that people can come up with?

[Dashinka 24,481]

2 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

You know, what with all the true problems in life, is this the best crisis that people can come up with?

Nothing is too low for drama queens.

[laylalex 7,284]

I'm going to go with the NYPD on this one for the time being -- if they say it was dangerous, it was probably dangerous. There have been other witnesses who back up that it was the paparazzi creating the problems, not the Sussexes' drivers. 

 

Whatever it was, it wasn't good and shouldn't have happened. I would hesitate to say "oh this is obviously fake" until we know more. It doesn't hurt to hold off on assigning blame or severity until there's more info, but jumping to conclusions rarely has any good effect except to give yourself a hindsight "attaboy" slap on the back if you happen to get it "right." This ABC 7 (local NYC news) article from today has a bunch of conflicting information, which is understandable considering it was a weird situation: https://abc7ny.com/meghan-markle-paparazzi-nyc-nypd-prince-harry-midtown/13264664/

 

Again, just my two pennies.  I expect a better and clearer timeline will emerge.

 

But 100% agree we have FAR bigger things in the world to worry about than if two rich people were made to feel unsafe without necessarily being unsafe. 

[Crazy Cat 41,814]

I'm not buying this story.  2 hours???????  Laughable. These are attention seekers... The language sensors won't let me adequately say what this is.

Edited May 18, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[Dashinka 24,481]

Hmmm.

 

He said while the behaviour of the 'numerous' photographers present was 'challenging', the duke and duchess 'arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests in regard.'

 

New York Mayor, Eric Adams, expressed empathy and described the actions of the paparazzi as 'reckless' and 'irresponsible', but added that he would find it 'hard to believe' there was a 'two-hour high-speed chase'.

 

New York police officials also told US broadcaster NBC that they did not believe the case was 'near catastrophic', but 'a bit of a chaotic scene'.

 

US channel ABC reported today having spoken to police sources who acknowledged that the experience may have been 'scary' for those involved, but said that the media presence was 'not the kind of caravan described by sources close to Harry and Meghan'.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12100211/Harry-Meghans-account-near-catastrophic-car-chase-called-question.html

[Boiler 45,449]

So Meghan doing Meghan?

[Crazy Cat 41,814]

26 minutes ago, Boiler said:

So Meghan doing Meghan?

Yep.  Exactly.

[Dashinka 24,481]

8 hours ago, Boiler said:

So Meghan doing Meghan?

Apparently, according to someone there, her speech was Kamala like.

 

Fatuous, irrelevant and no sense of purpose - what a fitting backdrop Manhattan's 'Women of Vision' made for the vapid La Markle herself! Fellow guest MAUREEN CALLAHAN's sparkling account of Meghan's word-salad gala appearance

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12098661/MAUREEN-CALLAHANs-hand-account-Meghans-word-salad-appearance-New-York-award-gala.html

[Boiler 45,449]

Let's look on the positive side, at least we have the script for the next Fast and Furious - the Markles.