Harry and Meghan's safety staff ought to have gone to police straight away as a substitute of permitting a chase to occur, skilled says

• Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Doria Ragland have been chased by paparazzi on Tuesday in New York. 
• The “near-catastrophic” chase lasted two hours, based on the royal couple’s reps.
• Safety skilled Kenneth Bombace mentioned their safety staff seemingly ought to have gone to police sooner.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, have been in a “near-catastrophic” automobile chase involving paparazzi in New York on Tuesday night time, based on an announcement from the royal couple’s reps. 

“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in a number of close to collisions involving different drivers on the street, pedestrians, and two NYPD officers,” the spokesperson added, according to a statement shared by royals reporter Omid Scobie.

Kenneth Bombace, who has labored to guard dignitaries, celebrities, and former US presidents as CEO of safety consulting agency World Menace Options, advised Insider that the chase by no means ought to have gone on that lengthy.

“Driving two hours in New York Metropolis itself is harmful for anyone,” he mentioned. “Now when you add the truth that you are being pursued in a reckless method by people who do that for a residing, on scooters and automobiles, I believe when you have been to permit that to go on for 2 hours, if that’s what occurred, I might say that that is reckless and unprofessional.”

Based on NBC Information, Meghan and Harry have been pursued by “extremely aggressive paparazzi” for 75 minutes on the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive after leaving the Girls of Imaginative and prescient award ceremony. They then stopped on the New York Metropolis Police Division’s nineteenth precinct and switched right into a yellow taxi.

The taxi driver, Sukhcharn Singh, advised The Washington Publish that two automobiles adopted him as he drove Harry, Meghan, Ragland, and a member of their safety staff round for about 10 minutes earlier than returning them to the police station. They have been then reportedly in a position to go away in one other automobile that wasn’t adopted.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Division advised Insider in an announcement that there have been “no collisions, summonses, accidents or arrests” in the course of the incident.

Bombace mentioned that the royal couple arrived on the police precinct “far too late on this situation.”

“Particularly since there have been law-enforcement officers concerned within the safety operation, I might’ve instantly went to a precinct as a result of these folks have been being reckless in following them, and that in all probability would’ve ended issues,” he mentioned.

The involvement of a seemingly random taxi driver additionally raised questions for Bombace.

“Once we conduct our operations, these can be vetted automobiles that we’ve as a part of our operation that we might change them into,” he mentioned of defending high-profile purchasers. “And generally there can be much less high-profile automobiles that folks won’t assume they’d be in. I haven’t got the small print on the taxi operation and why they might have moved them right into a New York Metropolis taxi. I might see that as problematic, as a result of now you are coping with an individual who just isn’t a safety personnel and also you may be leaving your principals weak to different issues too.”

Bombace mentioned it is doable that their safety staff did not instantly proceed to precinct as a result of they have been making an attempt to shake off the paparazzi and shield their privateness, however finally, he mentioned, security should take precedence.

“I like the concept that they finally mentioned we will a police precinct to finish this. I might’ve achieved it a lot sooner,” he mentioned. “And they need to’ve made that decision, not let the principal say, ‘No, no, no, simply maintain going, or let’s try to lose them.’

“Within the safety enterprise, generally principals — the folks that you simply’re defending — will try to dictate the way you do your safety. As a result of it is a buyer, a consumer of yours, it’s extremely straightforward to fall into that lure the place you allow them to begin calling or making selections, and finally it’s important to keep in mind, you are the safety skilled. Your job is to maintain them secure.”

Insider reached out to Meghan and Harry’s reps for remark.

The photograph company Backgrid USA pushed again on Harry and Meghan’s claims on Wednesday, saying that its 4 freelance photographers reported “no near-collisions or near-crashes” and “had no intention of inflicting any misery or hurt” whereas photographing the couple.