Buckingham Palace in London
Just days after Prince Harry falsely claimed to have been the victim of a “near catastrophic” car chase in New York City, a British court turned down his bid to challenge the Home Office over its refusal to allow him to pay for police protection for himself and his family when visiting the United Kingdom.
On Monday, Mr. Justice Chamberlain turned down Harry’s request to bring a judicial review over the decision of the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, which deals with protection of royalty and public figures, that denied Harry, the duke of Sussex, in his bid for such protection.
RAVEC had contended that it would undermine public confidence if wealthy people could buy protection unavailable to those who cannot afford it.
Lawyers for the duke argued that RAVEC’s decision was unlawful.
Five days earlier, the duke claimed that he and his wife, Meghan, as well as her mother, were in a “near catastrophic” two-hour car chase involving paparazzi in New York City. A spokesman for the duke, Ashley Hansen, said that “[T]his relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.”
The New York Police Department take on the incident was far less harrowing.
“There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging,” said Julian Phillips, a deputy police commissioner. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests…”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams cast doubt on a chase taking place at any speed faster than the normal crawl of Manhattan traffic.
Hizzoner said that, while he found it “hard to believe that there was a two-hour high-speed chase,” he also expressed concern not over the couple’s safety but over the safety of the city’s police officers who were assisting the Sussexes.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
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