Prince Harry says the car chase brought him closer to understanding his mother’s death

prince harry offers more insight into the two-hour ordeal that occurred between the Sussexes and the photographers in New York City this week.

Harry, Meghan Markle and the Duchess’s mother, Doria Ragland, were leaving the Ms. Women of Vision Awards Gala on Tuesday night when, according to a spokesperson for the couple, the group “were involved in a near-catastrophic car chase at the hands of a group of very aggressive paparazzi.”

“This relentless pursuit, which lasted for more than two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” said the spokesperson, representing the Archewell organization of the Sussexes. . said in a statement shared with HuffPost On Wednesday.

according to a Thursday’s report in The Times of LondonHarry privately told friends the experience was “the closest I’ve ever had” to understanding what happened in the 1997 car crash that killed his mother, Princess Diana.

Harry has previously spoken about the parallels he sees between the press intrusion his mother faced before her death and what Meghan has faced over the years.

“My deepest fear is that history will repeat itself,” he said. said in a 2019 statement. “I have seen what happens when someone I love is commodified to the point where they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I see my wife being a victim of the same powerful forces.”

In the Sussexes’ bombshell 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry made similar comments about Diana and Meghan.

“What I was seeing was that history was repeating itself. More perhaps, or much more dangerous, because then you add race and social networks, ”the duke said at the time, referring to his wife’s biracial background.

Although different accounts emerged about this week’s incident, the New York Police Department confirmed in a statement to HuffPost on Wednesday that it helped assist the royals after the gala and that there were “numerous photographers that made it difficult for them to travel.”

In an interview with The New York Timesan Archewell spokesperson disputed suggestions that the chase was fabricated for publicity purposes.

“Respectfully, considering the Duke’s family history, one would not have to think of anything about the couple or anyone associated with them to believe this was some kind of public relations stunt,” the rep said Friday. “Frankly, I think that’s abhorrent.”