Harry and Meghan demand footage of 'near catastrophic' car chase

Harry and Meghan have demanded copies of the photos, videos and all footage that were captured during their car chase with the paparazzi on 16th May 2023, TMZ have reported.

According to the publication, the Prince and his wife claimed - as one reason - to need the footage in order to take a look at their own security. The letter from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's legal team was sent to the Backgrid photo agency.

It read, "We hereby demand that Backgrid immediately provide us with copies of all photos, videos, and/or films taken last night by the freelance photographers after the couple left their event and over the next several hours," as TMZ reports.

The demand was made, TMZ confirmed, but no lawsuits have yet been filed surrounding the event. A lawsuit appears to be the way forward to get Backgrid to hand over these images and videos, as the Duke and Duchess had their request denied by the agency in a letter back to the couple.

"In America, as I'm sure you know, property belongs to the owner of it: Third parties cannot just demand it be given to them, as perhaps Kings can do," the letter from Backgrid wrote.

The letter, as published by TMZ, continued: "Perhaps you should sit down with your client and advise them that his English rules of royal prerogative to demand that the citizenry hand over their property to the Crown were rejected by this country long ago. We stand by our founding fathers."

The photos in question were from the 16th May when Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, were involved in a 'near catastrophic' car chase, trying to escape from the paparazzi following them.

The couple, who were accompanied by Doria Ragland, Meghan's mother, were in New York City on 16th May, as the chase began from the doors of the Ziegfeld ballroom, where the Ms Foundation gala was being held.

Meghan had just received a Ms Foundation Women of Vision honour for her 'global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls'.

The couple were all smiles and sparkles at the event where, on accepting her award, Meghan said "You can be the visionary of your own life". Little did they know that after the event, their lives could have been in the hands of the photographers that followed them.

As the couple left the Women of Vision awards, they were pursued by paparazzi following the car that held the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as well as Meghan's mother, Ms Ragland, to the private residence they were staying at.

The incident was confirmed by a spokesperson for the couple in a statement first published by Omid Scobie, who penned their autobiography, 'Finding Freedom'. He posted on Twitter the statement that read, "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 (New York Police Department) officers," the statement continued.

Photo: Twitter @scobie

The spokesperson's strong words concluded: “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 involved.”

Omid Scobie also wrote on his twitter post that the paps were 'confronted by uniformed police multiple times' but the car chase continued; with some drivers mounting the pavement, going through red lights and even reversing down a one-way street'.

(Photo taken from MTV Europe Awards in November 2001 showing press photographing celebrities getting in and out of their cars)

The NYPD also released a statement saying they "assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging."

"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests in regard," the NYPD statement calmly concluded.

Omid Scobie wrote that the car chase lasted two hours and that a source close to the Sussexes say they are "understandably shaken, but thankful everyone's safe."

The couple and Meghan's mother arrived at a Manhattan police station where a plan was made to use a New York taxi, so they flagged down a yellow cab, according to BBC News.

Photo shows yellow cabs in New York City at night

The cab was driven by Mr Sukhchan Singh (who goes by the name Sonny) who set off with the VIP guests and encountered the press first hand. But his opinion on the aggressive nature of the photographers differed from the statement released by the Sussexes.

Photo is a general New York taxi dashboard

As BBC News reports, Mr Singh said the description of he event being like a 'near catastrophic car chase' might have been 'exaggerated'. He believed the paparazzi were not 'being aggressive'.

One of the couple's security detail, Chris Sanchez, had a very different version of events, telling CNN it was "chaotic", that "public were in jeopardy" and "it could have been fatal".

Harry and Meghan's press secretary also described the severity of the events, telling Sky, "I have never experienced their vulnerability as much as I did last night. They were incredibly scared and shaken up."

Celebrity news, Backgrid also had their own versions of the event saying the photographers at the scene "had no intention of causing any distress or harm" to the passengers and "there were no near-collisions or near-crashes during the incident".

The statement from Backgrid continued, "According to the accounts given by these freelance contributors, a few of the photos even show Meghan Markle smiling inside a cab". They had confirmed they had seen the photos and videos taken of the series of events since leaving the Awards gala.

In an unexpected turn, the agency said it was Harry's security who were the ones driving in a "manner that could be perceived as reckless... The vehicle was seen blocking off streets, and in one video, it is shown being pulled over by the police."

All the same, Backgrid confirmed they are 'not condoning harassment', as Sky reports. "We are taking Prince Harry's allegations seriously and will be conducting a thorough investigation into the matter."