The majority of Americans believe Harry and Meghan’s account of a New York car chase they described as “near catastrophic”, a poll has revealed.
On 16 May, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were followed by photographers during what their spokesperson described as a “relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours”.
In a statement, they said they “were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi”, echoing scenes surrounding Harry’s mother, Princess Diana’s, death.
Sources near the couple have said that the incident was the “closest” Harry had felt to understanding what happened on the night of his mother’s death.
However, according to A.B.C. News, police disputed some details, saying officers’ interaction with Harry and Meghan lasted at most 20 minutes. They said if it carried on for two hours, it would have resulted from the couple’s security deciding to take an alternative route back to where they were staying.
Majority of Americans Believe Harry and Meghan’s Car Chase Story, Poll Finds
Paparazzi agency Backgrid denied any near-crashes and has refused to hand over images of the incident.
The NYPD said “numerous photographers” made the couple’s journey “challenging”, but there were “no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests”.
In light of a backlash of some questioning the Sussexes’ account, a new poll by Newsweek of 1,500 Americans shows a slim majority (52%) say they believe the couple’s version of events.
Younger Americans were more likely to back them than older Americans, with 71% of 25 to 34-year-olds believing their account compared to 40% of over 65s.
The statement was alarming, unmistakably evocative of the car chase that killed Princess Diana 26 years ago: Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, had been “involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi,” according to an unnamed spokesperson for the couple.
Survey Reveals Strong Belief in Harry and Meghan’s Car Chase Narrative
That story of a chaotic and dangerous pursuit through Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday night ricocheted worldwide on Wednesday morning, making headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. CNN, which like S.K.Y. News and outlets worldwide, provided minute-by-minute updates, reported that a member of the couple’s security team said the episode “could have been fatal.”
But as more details emerged on Wednesday from the accounts of the police and a taxi driver who was briefly involved, the picture became more complicated.
It illustrated any number of issues surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: their incandescent fame and the news media’s endless appetite for stories about them; their frosty relationship with the Crown and their fight for a royal security detail; and their determination to avoid the paparazzi’s lenses, undoubtedly informed by the tragic death of Diana, Harry’s mother, as she rode in a car speeding away from them in Paris in 1997.
The episode began Tuesday evening at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Midtown. Harry, Meghan and her mother, Doria Ragland, attended the Women of Vision Awards, where Meghan was among the honorees.
Around 9:50 p.m., the family left the theatre to return to the Upper East Side, where they were staying, according to a law enforcement official.
Concerned that paparazzi who had gathered outside the theatre would follow them, they left in a private security vehicle with a police escort, the official said. They drove around for about an hour, travelling up the F.D.R. Drive at one point, but they could not shake the paparazzi.
The police then escorted them to the 19th police precinct on the Upper East Side, the official said.
Around 11 p.m., a little over an hour after they had left the ballroom, one of their security staff hailed a cab outside the police precinct, according to the taxi’s driver, Sukhcharn Singh.
After travelling for about a block, they got stuck behind a garbage truck, Mr Singh said.
Poll Shows Wide Acceptance of Harry and Meghan’s Car Chase Story Among U.S. Respondents
“All of a sudden, the paparazzi came out of nowhere and just started snapping pictures,” he said, adding that he heard one of the women from the back say, “‘Oh, my God.'”
“They were nervous,” Mr Singh said. “His wife looked scared, and Harry was nervous. And the other lady was reticent.”
The truck moved out of their way less than five minutes later, but as Mr Singh drove, he said he saw paparazzi following them in at least two cars. When the couple’s security guard noticed they were being followed, he instructed Mr Singh to drive back to the precinct.
He said that around 11:30, Mr Singh returned them to the precinct, and they climbed back into the same black S.U.V. they had been travelling in before.
They remained at the precinct while the police blocked traffic in the area, after which they left with a police escort and no paparazzi in tow, the official said.
