Member of Harry and Meghan’s security detail and cab driver speak out following ‘chaotic’ chase
A member of the security detail for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle and a cab driver who transported the couple during a paparazzi chase have both spoken about the incident. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said that a relentless pursuit unfolded after the couple and Ms Markle’s mother Doria Ragland attended an awards ceremony in New York City. The “two-hour-long” chase reportedly resulted in multiple near collisions involving “other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.” Chris Sanchez, a member of the couple’s security team, told CNN on Wednesday that he “had never” come close to the chaos he experienced on Tuesday night. “What we were dealing with was very chaotic. There were about a dozen vehicles: cars, scooters and bicycles,” Mr Sanchez said. “The public [was] in jeopardy at several points. It could have been fatal. They were jumping curbs and red lights. At one point they blocked the limousine and started taking pictures until we were able to get out.” And he added: “[I] was concerned about [Prince Harry and his wife] but more about the public because they [the paparazzi] were being so erratic. People were on sidewalks and crossing streets and the [paparazzi] were crossing red lights. We did everything by the letter of law.” But the taxi driver who picked up the Sussexes from the New York City Police Department’s 19th precinct, where they had gone to in an attempt to lose paparazzi, told the Washington Post he didn’t feel threatened. The driver said Meghan and Harry’s security asked him to drive back to the station out of concern their location would be shared with more people. “I don’t think I would call it a chase,” Sukhcharn Singh told the Post. “I never felt like I was in danger. It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but it’s New York—it’s safe.” The NYPD told The Independent in a statement that the department assisted the couple’s “challenging” transport, but no collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests were reported. Meanwhile, Mr Sanchez told CNN that Prince Harry and Meghan were left frightened and exhausted by the time they arrived back. NYC Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference on Wednesday that he was told two officers could have been injured. The mayor said while he found it “hard to believe that there was a two-hour high-speed chase,” even an incident lasting 10 minutes could have been “extremely dangerous”. “It’s clear that the press, the paparazzi, they want to get the right shot,” Mayor Adams said. “But public safety must always be at the forefront.” “New York City is different from a small town somewhere. You shouldn’t be speeding anywhere but this is a densely populated city,” he added, noting the amount of traffic and movement and people on the streets. It is understood that the Sussexes believe the pursuit, which is said to have involved six blacked-out vehicles, could have been fatal. Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in 1997 from injuries sustained in a car crash after trying to flee paparazzi who were following her vehicle. The duke, who was 12 years old when his mother died, spoke about his concern of history repeating itself in his AppleTV+ docuseries The Me You Can’t See, in which he drew parallels between the treatment of his mother and the scrutiny he and Meghan faced. “It’s incredibly triggering to potentially lose another woman in my life, but the list is growing. And it all comes back to the same people, the same business model, the same industry,” Harry said. In the docuseries, Harry also reflected on the inquest into Diana’s death, which concluded she was unlawfully killed due to “gross negligence” of her driver, Henri Paul, who had been drinking, and the paparazzi who were following her car at the time of the crash. According to the duke, he was “so angry” that there was “no justice at all” after the inquest. “Nothing came from that. The same people who chased her into the tunnel photographed her dying in the backseat of that car,” he recalled. The royal has also spoken about the trauma of his mother’s death in his revealing memoir Spare. Prince Harry said in the book he’s retraced the route his mother’s driver took in Paris on the night she died. “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,” he wrote. The pursuit of the Sussexes is said to have involved a number of traffic violations including driving on the pavement and through red lights, reversing down a one-way street, illegally blocking a moving vehicle and driving while photographing and while on the phone. In the statement, the spokesperson for the Sussexes condemned the “dangerous” way images of the couple and Ms Ragland leaving the event were obtained. “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 spokesperson said. “Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all involved.” Read More Harry and Meghan latest news: Buckingham Palace silent on ‘near catastrophic’ car chase with paparazzi Buckingham Palace refuse to comment on paparazzi car chase involving Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Prince Harry’s fears about ‘history repeating itself’ resurface amid paparazzi car chase
2023-05-18 08:23
Carcone's two goals leads Coyotes over slumping Predators, 7-5
Michael Carcone scored two goals to lead the Arizona Coyotes to a 7-5 come from behind victory over the Nashville Predators
2023-11-12 12:29
Colombia plane crash: Mum told children to leave her and get help
The children's mother survived for four days after the plane crashed in the jungle.
2023-06-12 12:24
ChiefsAholic's Attorney Gives Very Sporty Quote About Innocence of His Client
VIDEO: ChiefsAholic's attorney speaks.
2023-08-22 03:53
Biden, Xi set for high-stakes summit
US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will try to stop the superpowers' rivalry spilling into conflict when they meet for the first time in a year at a...
2023-11-15 15:45
'Easy Company', the All Blacks' answer to Boks bomb squad, says Papali'i
South Africa might boast of the might of their so-called 'Bomb squad' of replacements, but All Blacks flanker Dalton Papali'i on Tuesday let slip details...
2023-10-24 20:48
Yellen urges 'direct' talks, US-China climate collaboration
Washington and Beijing should communicate "directly" on concerns about specific economic practices, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Saturday, urging greater cooperation between the world's...
2023-07-08 16:46
Niger's civil society mobilizes the nation to fight for freedom from foreign interference
Niger’s ruling junta and civil society groups are calling on the nation to mobilize in the capital to fight for the country’s freedom and push back against foreign interference
2023-08-03 14:59
Debt-laden Altice in talks to sell data centres to Morgan Stanley - Les Echos
PARIS Cable and telecoms group Altice is nearing a deal to sell its data centres in France to
2023-09-07 01:24
European stocks jump on easing inflation; UK's FTSE outperforms
By Ankika Biswas (Reuters) -Europe's benchmark STOXX 600 climbed to a more than one-month high on Wednesday, as investors cheered
2023-11-15 17:54
Indonesia pulls out of hosting World Beach Games, months after Israel controversy
The 2023 World Beach Games, scheduled to take place in Bali next month, have been canceled after hosts Indonesia suddenly withdrew from the tournament.
2023-07-06 14:48
Mauricio Pochettino believes PSG stint stood him in good stead for Chelsea job
Mauricio Pochettino thinks the 18 months he spent in charge of Paris St Germain kitted him out to tackle the complicated task of turning Chelsea’s fortunes around. Under the Argentinian, PSG were crowned Ligue 1 champions in 2022 having missed out to Lille the previous campaign after he had replaced the sacked Thomas Tuchel mid-season. Crucially he failed to land the club’s Qatari owners the prize they most coveted, the Champions League, losing in the semi-final to Manchester City in 2021 and to Real Madrid in the last-16 the following year. It was reported that Pochettino never felt that he enjoyed full authority over the club’s star-studded squad, and was kept by the hierarchy from reining in the erratic behaviour of certain big-name players. He left in the summer of 2022 and did not work in football again until accepting the job of piecing together Chelsea owner Todd Boehly’s expensively assembled side in June. He said the experience of managing in the famously chaotic environment of the French champions helped him as a coach, but acknowledged that the challenge he faces at Stamford Bridge is of a different order. “I think it helps,” said Pochettino. “It helps to take things in a different way. Of course, experience is a really important point in football, in how you are going to deal with things. “It would be arrogant to say that because I was there, now I can manage everything. The demands always are completely different. “But when you add experience and experience of different clubs, different countries, different cultures, I think it gives us the capacity as a coaching staff to help in a better way the players and then the club that wants to develop some new ideas or new projects, like we are now doing.” It would be arrogant to say that because I was there, now I can manage everything. The demands always are completely different Mauricio Pochettino on his time at PSG Chelsea face Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday when Pochettino will come up against another coach who knows intimately the unique demands of life at PSG, Unai Emery. Emery managed the club for two seasons between 2016-18, winning the title in his second year but joining the list of coaches unable to fulfil the club’s frustrated Champions League ambitions, twice going out in the last 16. He returned Villa to Europe for the first time in 12 years last season, finishing seventh in the Premier League after taking over from Steven Gerrard in October. “For myself and for Unai, (the job) is not to prove anything,” said Pochettino. “I think it is to try to help (our) clubs to achieve what the clubs want. I never feel that I need to prove something. “We (Pochettino and assistant Jesus Perez) arrived at PSG and in one year and a half we won three (trophies). We proved that we can win. “But you can win with a team that normally wins when you are in a project ready to win. In that case, Unai and myself are building something. He is building at Aston Villa a very nice project, and we are starting to build a very good project for the long-term at Chelsea. “I think it’s not easy to win with PSG, it’s not easy to win with different clubs. We need to give the credit for the coaches and players that win with different teams, because for different reasons, you feel the pressure in a club like PSG. You cannot (have) any excuses. “But the Premier League is the most important competition and the most competitive, and if you can win here, I think the feeling for sure that the credit is bigger.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Bruno Fernandes scores stunner as Man Utd beat Burnley to end losing run Henry Arundell impresses his captain with five-star show as England rout Chile I’ll relish this’ says Dominic Calvert-Lewin after Everton break their duck
2023-09-24 05:52
You Might Like...
How tall is Joe Rogan? Mixed martial artist trolled for lying about his height: 'I'm short, but not that short'
Fortnite players can now apply for a portion of its $245 million FTC settlement
Russia accuses Ukraine of drone attack on Moscow, hitting a tower for the 2nd time in 3 days
In a bad omen for inflation, US oil prices top $90 a barrel for the first time this year
'AGT' fans mesmerized by Adrian Stoica and his 'super smart' dog's wake-up act: 'Hurricane stole the show'
Norris upstages Verstappen as Ricciardo breaks hand in Dutch GP practice
Baez battles past Coric to reach Winston-Salem final
The results of 'Barbenheimer' weekend are in. Here's who took the box office crown
