The car accident that Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex were almost involved in was “not near catastrophic”, their taxi driver has claimed.
The royal couple, who had attended the Ms Foundation for Women’s annual gala in New York on Tuesday, were in a car with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland after the event as they were allegedly being followed by paparazzi when they were ushered into a street cab amid the supposed chase that had been described as “near-catastrophic”.
But now driver Sonny Singh, 37, has claimed that the incident has been “exaggerated”.
He told “The Washington Post”: “The security guard hailed me and next thing you know, Prince Harry and his wife were hopping into my cab. As we went up the block, we got blocked by a garbage truck and all of a sudden paparazzi came and started taking pictures.
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“They were just about to give me the location of where they were going to go but then they told me to circle back to the precinct, so we had to circle back to the precinct.
“They were nice people, they looked nervous, I think they had been chased the whole day or something so they were nervous. But the security guard was on it.
“I don’t think it is true (that it was near-catastrophic), I think that's all exaggerated so don’t read too much into that. New York is the safest place to be, right? There are police stations and cops on every corner so there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Following the crash, a representative for Harry – whose mother Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in 1997 at the age of 36 – alleged that the “relentless pursuit” of the royal couple had resulted in “near collisions” involving a slew of other drivers and pedestrians.
The rep said: “This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians, and two NYPD officers.”
They said: “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 involved.”
What’s more, the NYPD has released a statement in which they claim that “no arrests” had been made after the incident, nor was anyone at the scene injured.
Police said: “Tuesday 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 this regard.”