Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and her mother Doria Ragland took refuge inside a New York City police station amid a "chaotic" car chase by paparazzi on Tuesday night, according to law enforcement.
Paparazzi were said to have been chasing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following their appearance at the Ms. Foundation for Women's Annual Gala earlier that night.
In a statement to NBC News, the couple's spokesperson said the "relentless pursuit" lasted for over two hours and resulted in near collisions with other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD police officers.
The spokesperson added that the “near catastrophic car chase” came “at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.”
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Julian Phillips, NYPD's deputy commissioner of public information, said officers “assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
“There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging,” 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 in regard.”
Two senior law enforcement sources said Harry and Meghan left an NYC theatre around 10 p.m. Wednesday with private security.
Entertainment News
There were multiple photographers at the theatre, and the press was not aware of where they were staying, so to keep the photogs off their trail, they were driven up and down the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, the main thoroughfare of Manhattan's East Side, in a 75-minute chase, sources said.
They were then driven to NYPD's 19th Precinct Station House, on East 67th Street between Lexington and Third Avenue, where they stayed briefly before getting into a taxi and leaving without being followed.
The taxi flagged down by the couple's security team was driven by Sonny Singh, 37, of Queens, NBC News reported.
Instead of going to their ultimate destination, they simply drove around the neighborhood and ran up a $17.80 fare before Harry and Meghan got out of the cab back at the police station and back into their car.
They paid the fare and left a $50 tip, said Singh, who was unfazed by the celebrity pickup.
"I pulled over to the side, and the next you know, Prince Harry and his wife are running into my cab," Singh said in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza after he had dropped off an airport fare.
"I picked up [rock star] Keith Richards [once], [he] was in my cab, and I had [former New York Police Commissioner] Ray Kelley in here one time, as well. So I picked up a lot of people. It's New York; you don't know who you're going to pick up."
When the couple made the decision to step down as senior royals in January 2020 and move to California, Harry cited the intense scrutiny they faced, which mirrored that of his mother, the late Princess Diana.
Harry has said that his biggest fear is "history repeating itself."
Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.
