Piers Morgan, Megyn Kelly and Caitlyn Jenner have all trashed Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s claim that they were caught up in a “near-catastrophic” two-hour car chase in Manhattan on Tuesday night.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a statement on Wednesday morning saying that they were hounded by snappers after they left the Women of Vision Awards and headed to a private residence on the Upper East Side.
“Last night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and [Markle’s mother] Ms. Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi,” a spokesperson for the couple claimed.
“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” they added.
However, the car chase claims raised eyebrows with some Sussex critics, including Morgan, who bluntly tweeted: “There was no 2-hour chase, their story is unraveling by the minute.”
Kelly, meanwhile, also expressed doubts that it would take 120 minutes for the Sussexes to travel from Midtown to the neighboring Upper East Side.
“I lived in Manhattan for 17 yrs & it is not possible to have a 2hr ‘car chase’ there,” she wrote. “Too many street lights/stop signs, too much foot/car traffic & hundreds of places you could safely pull over to protect yourself.”
Jenner — who was involved in a fatal multi-car collision in 2015 — also tweeted: “I have been party to paps following me in NY (definitely not 2 hrs and plenty of evidence – kind of the point since they have cameras), LA (even in a city with lots of driving and long distances between destinations, not 2 hours, and AGAIN LOTS OF EVIDENCE) it comes with the territory. Whine whine whine is all these 2 seem to do.”
Another skeptic responded to Jenner’s tweet, alleging that Markle looked to be smiling and was seemingly not wearing a seat belt after she hopped into a yellow cab after being chased by the paparazzi.
Meanwhile, the New York Police Department released a statement regarding the couple’s claims, saying they “assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
“There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging,” a police official said. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination, and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests in regard.”
Markle and Harry were with the Duchess’ mom, Doria Ragland, at the Women of Vision event.
The trio and a security guard were purportedly being driven from Midtown back to the Upper East Side in an SUV following the glitzy soiree.
However, the group was reportedly forced to flee the vehicle following the onset of aggressive paparazzi.
They subsequently stopped in at the NYPD’s 19th Precinct on the Upper East Side, before being picked up in a yellow cab to drive them onward to their destination.
On Wednesday afternoon, the cab’s driver, Sonny Singh, talked to The Post about escorting his high-profile passengers.
“They seemed like nice people but they didn’t really say anything,” he said. “They didn’t seem that scared but they looked nervous.”
The cabbie said that six paparazzi suddenly “came out of nowhere” around the taxi, flashing photos at the vehicle, which was stuck behind a garbage truck.
“There were flashes from every side of the car,” Singh recalled. “They were just clicking away. I put my visor down because the flashes were so bright.”
Although startled, he said “it wasn’t scary” but admitted that the situation was outrageous.
“It was pretty crazy. They were just trying to get home,” Singh said.
In his brief drive with the couple — which only lasted about 10 minutes, according to the driver’s estimation — Singh said two vehicles pursued them as they drove west to Park Avenue before heading south.
“They kept following us and were coming next to the car,” he told the Washington Post, recalling one vehicle as a black Honda Accord and the other as an older gray Honda CR-V. “They took pictures as we stopped and were filming us.”
The incident appeared to shock Meghan and Harry, Singh said, as he caught them saying “Oh my God” repeatedly before returning to silence.
Only a few minutes into the ride, Singh said he was instructed to turn around and go back to the police precinct over fears that the paparazzi would continue following them and reveal their location.
“I never felt like I was in danger. It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie,” Singh said. “They were quiet and seemed scared but it’s New York — it’s safe.”
