The Sussexes, Prince Harry and Meghan, remain divisive as ever

It’s safe to say that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Sussexes have had a week of the highest highs and lowest lows. From court battles, to a glittering awards ceremony, to a “near-catastrophic” car chase, the Duke and Duchess have been through the mill – and then some.

It all started early this week when a man was found outside Harry and Meghan’s home in the Santa Barbara County of California in the early hours of Monday morning. The 29-year-old was arrested after being found “lurking” outside the mansion in Montecito at around 2 a.m.

It’s not the first time that a potential intruder has been caught outside Harry and Meghan’s Montecito home.

In December 2020, a man drove all the way from Ohio to California was picked up for trespassing on the property but was left off with a warning, only to return days later and do the same thing all over again. It’s thought security around their property was beefed up after the incident.

THE CAR CHASE

Then, on Tuesday evening the Sussexes, accompanied by Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, were in New York at the Ms. Foundation for Women Awards where she picked up the Women of Vision award for her lifelong advocacy for women and girls. It was the first public appearance for the Sussexes after the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla and they certainly looked radiant, with Meghan opting for a stunning glittering gold dress by Colombian designer Johanna Ortiz.

However, upon leaving the awards things quickly turned sour. The trio stepped out around 8 p.m. to a barrage of flash photography and the situation escalated into what they say culminated in a near-catastrophic car chase. A statement from their spokesperson said, “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.”

Two people involved with the couple’s security also described the incident as chaotic, with the paparazzi in numerous vehicles, including cars, scooters, mopeds and electrical bikes.

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The Sussexes and Ragland had to switch to a yellow cab after stopping at the New York Police Department (NYPD) 19th precinct. It’s thought that they were trying to evade the paparazzi and prevent them from finding out where they were staying on the Upper East Side. What ensued was a game of cat and mouse, with the family and their security detail criss-crossing the city using 57th Street and the Franklin D Roosevelt Drive to try to shake off the photographers.

The NYPD released their own statement confirming that there was an incident with the Sussexes and the paparazzi but played it down somewhat. Julian Phillips, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for public information said the police, “assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex” on Tuesday evening and “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.”

According to CNN, a local law enforcement source corroborated some of their account saying the couple were, “followed by a ‘swarm’ of paparazzi in cars, motorcycles, scooters after they left the event on Tuesday. “

A protective team from the New York Police Department (NYPD) followed Harry and Meghan in another car, and was forced to make some avoiding manoeuvres to get away from the paparazzi. Paparazzi on scooters and bikes zoomed down the sidewalk to keep up,” the source said. “There were many close calls, including short stops between front and backs of cars, but none resulted in a crash,” the source added.

What is clear, is that what happened in New York on Tuesday evening was both triggering and frightening for Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Doria Ragland. Given how Harry’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales died whilst being pursued by paparazzi in Paris in 1997, Harry has said that he fears history repeating itself. After the incident he is reported to have said that this is the closest he has come to knowing what it was like the night his mother died.

THE COURT BATTLES

This incident happened only hours after Prince Harry was told that the U.K.’s Metropolitan Police were not for hire and that it would set a dangerous precedent if he paid for them to protect him and his family. Prince Harry is currently in a legal battle with the U.K. government to be able to pay for the police to provide security for himself and his family, after his security was withdrawn when he stepped back as working royal in 2020. The offer to pay for his police protection would create a situation where “wealthy individuals could ‘buy’ Protective Security from specialist police officers,” according to the U.K. Home Office.

Prince Harry also has four ongoing cases against the U.K. tabloids including Mirror Group Newspapers and Associated Newspapers Limited. There is no doubt that this pursuit by the paparazzi, will embolden him even more in his life’s work to hold newspaper groups accountable for bad practices.

At the end of this rollercoaster week for the Sussexes, and at the time of writing, there has been no statement from Buckingham Palace or Kensington Palace about the incident in New York. Harry and Meghan will spend the end of the week marking their fifth wedding anniversary, their lives now a world away from the joyous scenes that the world witnessed at Windsor Castle five years ago.

So, what now for the Sussexes? Their request for the pictures and videos obtained in the car chase by the paparazzi for the agency Backgrid has been rejected. The agency’s lawyers rebuffed the Sussexes, saying that they cannot just make demands in America “as Kings can do.” “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,” Backgrid said.

“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,” they added.

But we also saw Prince Harry filming the incident – so will he release the footage? Prince Harry is also back in court in the U.K. in June as part of the case against the Mirror Group Newspaper. Whatever happens next, Harry and Meghan are still trending online and of course, remain divisive as ever.