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'History repeating itself': Outrage as Prince Harry, Meghan Markle claims 'near-fatal' pap chase

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland were traveling in an SUV when they were followed by nearly 12 paparazzi

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Meghan Markle, her mother Doria Ragland, and Prince Harry were involved in a "near-catastrophic" paparazzi chase on Tuesday night, May 16 in New York City. The trio are "extremely upset and shaken" after the incident while they were traveling from Manhattan after they left Ziegfeld Theater where the 'Suits' alum was honored at the Women of Vision Awards.

Three of them were traveling in an SUV when they were followed by nearly 12 paparazzi. "It started off with 12 paparazzi, then ended up with four chasing [Meghan, Harry, and Doria]. Their security tried their best to lose [photographers]," an insider told Page Six.

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'Chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi'

Harry reportedly recorded the chase on his cellphone and security also recorded the incident to gather evidence. Paparazzi ignored warnings by uniformed cops and continued to chase the three, according to the outlet.

"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," a rep for the couple told the media outlet.

"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," the rep added.

'Attention seekers or history repeating itself?'

After the news of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex being involved in the near-fatal car chase broke out, social media went divided where some of the users found the chase suspicious as they called the couple "press hungry" and could not believe the chase going on for two hours. "Can't wait to see the video. Oh wait this will be the one time they didn't film," a Twitter user wrote while another wrote, "More publicity on the 'We want Privacy Tour' " and someone remarked, "Attention seekers or history repeating by itself?"

"2hrs chase !!! Was there no police station near to go to?", a user tweeted and another wrote, "For people who claim they don't want to be in the spotlight, Harry and Meghan are the most press hungry around, it's embarrassing"

'Concerned about this damn near repeat of history'

While many social media users doubted the couple's claims, many others tweeted showing their concern that this could be a repeat of the history of Princess Diana's death in 1997 in a car crash after a paparazzi chase. "Any decent father, brother, or family member would be concerned about this damn near repeat of history. That the #royalfamily has the means to do something about this & chose NOT to speaks volumes," a user tweeted.

One user wrote, "Maybe you, the media, need to leave people alone and stop paying photographers so much money for pictures that they put people’s lives in danger," and another opined, "They’ve learned nothing, the media are a disgrace. I hope to god they’re ok. Let nobody ever say again how they attention seek and make things up about their treatment."

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