- Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Doria Ragland were chased by paparazzi on Tuesday in New York.
- The "near catastrophic car chase" lasted two hours, according to the royal couple's rep.
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Meghan's mom, Doria Ragland, were in a "near catastrophic car chase" involving paparazzi in New York on Tuesday night, according to a statement from the royal couple's spokesperson.
"This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians, and two NYPD officers," the spokesperson said, according to a statement shared by royals reporter Omid Scobie.
Kenneth Bombace, who has worked to protect dignitaries, celebrities, and former US presidents as CEO of security consulting firm Global Threat Solutions, told Insider that the chase never should have gone on that long.
"Driving two hours in New York City itself is dangerous for anybody," he said. "Now if you add the fact that you're being pursued in a reckless manner by people that do this for a living, on scooters and vehicles, I think if you were to allow that to go on for two hours, if that is what happened, I would say that that's reckless and unprofessional."
According to NBC News, Meghan and Harry were pursued by "highly aggressive paparazzi" for 75 minutes on the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive after leaving the Women of Vision award ceremony. They then stopped at the New York City Police Department's 19th precinct and switched into a yellow taxi.
The taxi driver, Sukhcharn Singh, told The Washington Post that two vehicles followed him as he drove Harry, Meghan, Ragland, and a member of their security team around for about 10 minutes before returning them to the police station. They were then reportedly able to leave in another vehicle that wasn't followed.
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department told Insider in a statement that there were "no collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests" during the incident.
Bombace said that the royal couple arrived at the police precinct "far too late in this scenario."
"Especially since there were law-enforcement officers involved in the security operation, I would've immediately went to a precinct because these people were being reckless in following them, and that probably would've ended things," he said.
The involvement of a seemingly random taxi driver also raised questions for Bombace.
"When we conduct our operations, those would be vetted vehicles that we have as part of our operation that we could switch them into," he said of protecting high-profile clients. "And sometimes there would be less high-profile vehicles that people might not assume they would be in. I don't have the details on the taxi operation and why they would possibly have moved them into a New York City taxi. I would see that as problematic, because now you're dealing with a person who is not a security personnel and you might be leaving your principals vulnerable to other things too."
Bombace said it's possible that their security team didn't immediately proceed to precinct because they were trying to shake off the paparazzi and protect their privacy, but ultimately, he said, safety must take priority.
"I like the idea that they ultimately said we're going to a police precinct to end this. I would've done it much sooner," he said. "And they should've made that call, not let the principal say, 'No, no, no, just keep going, or let's try and lose them.'
"In the security business, sometimes principals — the people that you're protecting — will try and dictate how you do your security. Because it's a customer, a client of yours, it's very easy to fall into that trap where you let them start calling or making decisions, and ultimately you have to remember, you're the security professional. Your job is to keep them safe."
Insider reached out to Meghan and Harry's reps for comment.
The photo agency Backgrid USA pushed back on Harry and Meghan's claims on Wednesday, saying that its four freelance photographers reported "no near-collisions or near-crashes" and "had no intention of causing any distress or harm" while photographing the couple.