A US photo agency said it refused to hand over photos and videos of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle (Duke and Duchess of Sussex) taken in New York on Tuesday night, during what the couple described as a "near-catastrophic car chase" by a "group of highly aggressive photographers".
Backgrid told CNN that it responded to a letter from the Duke of Sussex's legal team, saying the copyrighted material is owned by the agency and the couple has no rights to it.
The altercation involving members of the royal family and Meghan's mother Doria Ragland, came to light on Wednesday after a spokesman for the couple issued a statement condemning the "relentless pursuit" that "led to several collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers."
Statements from the New York Police Department, the mayor and a law enforcement source confirmed the couple's account of what happened after they left the Women of Vision Awards where Meghan was honored.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams questioned the timeframe for the manhunt, saying "it's hard to believe there was a two-hour high-speed chase on the streets of Manhattan," though he acknowledged that even a 10-minute chase could have serious consequences. But he added that the incident was "reckless" and "irresponsible". Police later concluded that it called for "no further investigation".
Exclusive: Member of Prince Harry and Meghan's security detail tells @MaxFosterCNN there were about a dozen vehicles pursuing the couple after last night's event in NYC.
"The public were in jeopardy at several points. It could have been fatal." pic.twitter.com/BqF3V0ZvWC
— CNN International PR (@cnnipr) May 17, 2023
Sukcharn Singh (the driver of the taxi that took the couple) explained that it was an exaggeration, that the chase was not "like movies" and that he did not feel danger despite the tension that hit Harry and Meghan, due to the approach of the photojournalists' car to their car, but the driver added to the Washington Post that the couple kept calm.
The driver further confirmed that he had not seen any reckless chases from photographers of his car as he was picking up the couple, and said if that did happen, it must have happened before he picked them up.
Backgrid also said that its lawyers wrote in response to the Dukes' lawyers' request: "In America, as you know, property belongs to its owners, and others cannot demand that it be given to them, as kings might do. Perhaps you should sit down with your client and advise him that his English rules of royal privilege, to demand that citizens surrender their property to the crown, have long been rejected by this state. We stand by our founding fathers."
The California-based photography agency also confirmed that it takes Prince Harry's "allegations seriously" and will conduct an investigation after the car chase last Tuesday, although photographers at the scene felt the couple were not in immediate danger, and Markle was even smiling in some photos.
What the duke described as a chase brought back to followers the experience of Princess Diana, who died in a car accident after being chased by photographers in Paris, and repeated with her son Prince Harry, while others saw the couple as exaggerating to attract the attention of the press.