“It’s a horrible business,” said Roger Wong, a freelance photographer, who was among dozens of others waiting on a red carpet outside the Hard Rock Hotel near Times Square on Thursday afternoon. He was hoping to get a sellable image of Martha Stewart, one of the models on the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. “But what am I going to do? Grill burgers? I’d probably make more money, but it’s not my thing.”
At the issue’s launch party, photographers chatted and snapped photos of other attendees, including Megan Fox and Kim Petras. But they were still reeling from what happened two nights earlier at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, where Meghan Markle was being honored at the Ms. Foundation’s annual Women of Vision Awards ceremony.
After leaving the gala, Prince Harry, Meghan and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, were involved in what a representative for the couple described as a “near-catastrophic car chase” as a result of paparazzi tailing them frantically.
After news of the ordeal spread around the world from a city not particularly known for the kind of dramatic paparazzi chases common in Los Angeles and Europe, several of the photographers believed the chase had been fabricated or exaggerated. Of the nearly dozen The New York Times spoke to, some claimed they were at the event. One said he followed the royal couple but would give details only in exchange for money.
Early reports largely echoed claims made by the couple's representative, as well as comments made by a member of the security team to CNN that the chase could have been fatal. But as more details emerged, from police reports and a taxi driver who was briefly involved, events began to move away from that account.
In a text message, Tina Brown, the author of two books on the royals, said the whole story “sounds slightly absurd.”
That, however, followed allegations from the duke and duchess' representative that they had been involved in a dramatic chase that lasted two hours. Mayor Eric Adams condemned the incident, calling it “reckless and irresponsible,” only to add that he was a bit baffled by the idea of a two-hour, high-speed car chase through midtown Manhattan.
And indeed, police later concluded that the incident “did not warrant further investigation.”
Wong, the freelance photographer, noted that earlier Tuesday, a lawyer for Prince Harry appeared in court in London, challenging a government decision not to allow him to pay for police protection during visits to the U.K. Wong said the timing of this was incredibly convenient.
Even a person who previously worked with the duke and duchess on their PR strategy said it defied logic that the couple’s driver hadn’t pulled into a parking lot at one of the many hotels that celebrities frequently use to shake off photographers following them. Page Six ridiculed the couple’s decision to stay with a friend at a secret location rather than a secure hotel.
In an interview with the Times on Friday, the couple’s rep, Ashley Hansen, said: “With all due respect, given the duke’s family history, you would have to think the worst of the couple or anyone associated with them to believe that this was some kind of PR stunt. To be honest with you, I think that’s abhorrent.”
On Thursday, TMZ published a video of the duke and duchess inside the vehicle, and Prince Harry can be seen in the backseat, holding his iPhone, covering his face, apparently recording photographers. (In the interview, Hansen confirmed this, adding, “I think that kind of footage can be helpful if an investigation is launched.”)
The mayor wasn’t the only one to initially criticize the photographers. The New York Press Photographers Association issued a scathing statement about the paparazzi’s “alleged” conduct, saying it “runs counter to the code of ethics that all of our members (and any press photographer with any respect for themselves and the profession) are expected to adhere to.”
Backgrid, an agency that represents at least two of the photographers who drove cars after the royal couple, replied in a statement that while the agency will investigate the incident, its photographers reported that the couple was not in immediate danger at the time. That prompted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to release another statement demanding that the agency hand over the footage. The agency quickly responded with a letter to the couple’s legal team that read: “In the United States, as I am sure you are aware, property belongs to the owner of it: third parties cannot simply demand that something be given to them, as perhaps kings can. Perhaps they should sit down with their clients and advise them that their English rules of royal prerogative to require citizens to surrender their property to the Crown were long ago rejected by this country. We stand by what our founding fathers did.”
One of the Backgrid photographers involved in the incident was Marvin Patterson, a freelance photographer known as Blayze. His Facebook page contains several images in which he deliberately inserts himself into photographs of models, rap stars and reality TV queens around the city. The Times reached him by text message Thursday night. Patterson responded that he would issue a statement soon, but would consider revealing more if he was made a “large offer.”
Noting that the Times does not allow paying sources and subjects, Patterson said the TMZ recording sums up how quiet the situation really was. He added, “There is nothing for the public or the police to really be concerned about. The facts are there. Exactly what you see there is what it is.”
He then hung up the phone, only to explain in a text message that there was simply no incentive to talk.
He concluded, “Yes, there was silence because there was no offer of money for my story.”
