Harry and Meghan Say They Were Chased by Paparazzi in New York

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Prince Harry, his wife Meghan, and her mother, Doria Ragland, were followed by paparazzi as they drove through Manhattan Tuesday night in what a spokesperson for the couple said was a dangerous chase but the police characterized as somewhat less dramatic.

The family had been at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan to attend the Women of Vision awards, where Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was one of the honorees.

Around 9:50 p.m., the family left the theater to return to the Upper East Side where they were staying, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter.

Concerned that paparazzi who had gathered outside the theater would follow them, Prince Harry and Meghan left in a private security vehicle with a police escort, the official said. They were driven around for about an hour, traveling 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. They remained at the precinct while the police blocked traffic in the area. Prince Harry, Meghan and Ms. Ragland, escorted by at least two police vehicles, then got into a taxi and left, losing the paparazzi in the process.

A spokesman for the New York Police Department confirmed that officers had assisted the couple’s security team Tuesday evening.

“There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging,” the spokesman, Julian Phillips, said in a statement. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests.”

The spokesperson for the couple had described the incident as a “near catastrophic car chase” that had lasted two hours.

At an unrelated news conference on Wednesday morning, Mayor Eric Adams condemned what happened as “a bit reckless and irresponsible.”

“It’s clear that the press, the paparazzi, they want to get the right shot,” Mr. Adams said. “But public safety must always be at the forefront.”

The mayor said he expected to be briefed in depth later, adding, “I would find it hard to believe that there was a two-hour high speed chase.” (The statement from the couple’s spokesperson had not addressed the speed of the vehicles in question.)

Even a 10-minute pursuit, he said, would be “extremely dangerous in New York City. We have a lot of traffic, a lot of movement, a lot of people are using our streets.”

Mr. Adams also invoked the memory of Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, who died in 1997 in a crash in Paris as her vehicle was being pursued by paparazzi.

“I don’t think there’s many of us who don’t recall how his mom died,” Mr. Adams said, “and it would be horrific to lose an innocent bystander during a chase like this and for something to have happened to them as well.”

Buckingham Palace said it had no comment on the incident, as did Kensington Palace, which is the household of Harry’s brother, Prince William.

Prince Harry has long been bitterly at odds with the press, blaming the paparazzi for his mother’s death and saying that harassment of his wife by the tabloids reminded him of his mother’s experience.

He and Meghan have taken legal action against several British newspapers for hacking his cellphone and other intrusions into their privacy.

Harry is also suing Britain’s Home Office over his security arrangements in his home country. He and Meghan lost police protection after they withdrew from royal duties and left Britain in 2020. Harry said that poses an unacceptable risk to him and his family when they visit Britain.

He has offered to pay for police protection himself but has been turned down by the Metropolitan Police. Lawyers for the Home Office argue that wealthy people should not be allowed to “buy” police protection.

The blizzard of litigation comes at a turbulent time in Harry’s relations with the British royal family. He is estranged from his father, King Charles III, and his brother, meeting neither of them during his brief visit to London for his father’s coronation on May 6. Meghan did not attend the ceremony, which coincided with the fourth birthday of the couple’s son, Archie.

Charles and William, royal watchers say, are deeply aggrieved by the claims in Harry’s bestselling memoir, “Spare,” and an earlier Netflix documentary about the couple. Harry portrayed his father as emotionally distant and more worried about his public image than his son’s happiness, and William as jealous and bullying.

But many of Harry’s grievances are aimed at the press. He claims the tabloids have struck unsavory deals with members of the royal family, promising favorable coverage in return for disparaging details about other family members.

Remy Tumin and Hurubie Meko contributed reporting.