Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Rep Says Any Accusations of Their NYC Car Chase Being a PR Stunt Are “Abhorrent”

After news of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s two-hour car chase in New York City came out last week, the couple was met with trademarked skepticism that seems to dog whatever they do. According to Us Weekly, the Sussexes are “shocked” at the public’s response, especially claims that it was a PR stunt or overblown by the pair. “They insist their account of the car chase was absolutely not exaggerated, and for people to say otherwise is so hurtful and out of line,” a source says.

Harry and Meghan alleged that they were followed by “a ring of highly aggressive” paparazzi in New York City after leaving the 2023 Women of Vision Awards the night of May 16, where Meghan was honored. Her mother, Doria Ragland, was also with the couple at the time.

“As far as staying out of sight and being scared to show their faces, that’s not going to happen,” the insider says. “[This has] just strengthened their resolve to keep standing up for themselves and speaking out when they feel wronged.”

Their spokesperson Ashley Hansen told The New York Times “Respectfully, considering the Duke’s family history, one would have to think nothing of the couple or anybody associated with them to believe this was any sort of PR stunt,” she said, referencing Harry’s mother Princess Diana’s death in a paparazzi-fueled car accident in 1997 in Paris. “Quite frankly, I think that’s abhorrent.” 

To add insult to injury, just a week after the car chase, a London judge denied Harry’s request to hire his own police protection while in the U.K., over a year after he launched the legal fight in September 2021.