Accounts may vary The different versions of events

The Duke and Duchess

Last night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.

This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.

While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety. Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved.

Julian Phillips, a deputy commissioner at the NYPD:

On Wednesday evening, May 16, the NYPD assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in regard.

Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City

It’s clear that the press and paparazzi want to get the right shot and the right story but public safety must always be at the forefront.

The briefing I received, two of our officers could have been injured. New York City is different from a small town somewhere. You shouldn’t be speeding anywhere but this is a densely populated city.

I don’t think there is many of us who don’t recall how his mum died. It would be horrific to lose an innocent bystander in something like this and for something to happen to [the Duke and Duchess] as well. We have to be extremely responsible. I’m going to be briefed in-depth later on today and to get the exact time frame. I would find it hard to believe there was a two-hour high speed chase … but we will find out the exact duration. A 10-minute chase is extremely dangerous. We have a lot of traffic, movement, a lot of people use our streets.

Any type of high-speed chase that involves something of that nature is inappropriate.