A celebrity gossip agency refused to hand Prince Harry photos taken by paparazzi of him and his wife, Meghan Markle, this week.
Lawyers representing Harry and Megan sent a letter to Backgrid, demanding that they hand over the photos taken of the couple, on Tuesday night, after the duo survived a “disaster” that almost occurred in New York as a result of a car chase by “paparazzi.”
The agency responded to the letter with a refusal, saying that Harry cannot “issue orders as kings do,” according to the British “Sky News” network.
And the agency added in its response: “In America, property belongs to its owner, and no one else can ask them to give it.”
The dangerous paparazzi hunt
Harry and his wife Megan survived a “catastrophe” that almost occurred on Tuesday night in New York as a result of a “car chase” by “very aggressive celebrity photo hunters,” a spokesperson for the couple said in a statement.
The incident occurred on Tuesday night after Harry and Megan attended an awards ceremony in the US financial capital.
A spokesman for the couple said in a statement emailed to AFP that Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, was with them in the car.
“Last night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Lady Ragland were the subject of a near-disastrous car chase by a highly aggressive network of paparazzi,” the statement read.
A spokesman for the couple residing in California pointed out that this “intense pursuit, which lasted for about two hours, almost caused a collision with other drivers or with pedestrians and two New York police officers.”
“Being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, but it should never be at the expense of anyone’s safety,” the statement continued.
“The publication of these images, given the manner in which they were obtained, encourages a very intrusive practice that is dangerous for all concerned,” the spokesman said.
The couple withdrew from the royal family in early 2020, and moved from Britain to the United States, in a decision they attributed in part to the media’s excessive interference in their lives.
Harry has long blamed the press for causing the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being chased by the paparazzi.
