There are growing concerns over Prince Harry's involvement in a controversial situation with the NYPD. Allegations suggest that Harry may have pressured the NYPD to misrepresent the events surrounding the paparazzi chase in New York City, which could have implications for his ongoing legal battle in the UK over security requests. To shed light on this, I've invited DC lawyer John Witherspoon to give his take on the matter.
To quickly sum it up before we hear from John, the information comes from a Reddit page, credited to Bill the Herd. The documents in question include a September 18th, 2023 letter from John Bart, Chief of Intelligence, to Chief Superintendent Richard Smith in the UK. In this letter, the NYPD confirms they had no evidence to arrest anyone following the paparazzi chase. Then, on September 27th, another email was sent confirming that both the UK police and Harry and Meghan’s team had received the letter.
But the story doesn’t end there. On December 6th, 2023, another letter surfaced, this time stating that there was enough evidence to arrest two individuals for reckless endangerment. This new letter was apparently used by Harry in his ongoing UK security case, though the September letter—showing no evidence—was not submitted.
Now, let’s hear from John Witherspoon, who has some intriguing insights on this matter. Take it away, John.
[John Witherspoon] Thanks for having me, Steph. This situation is a bit bizarre. It’s odd that these letters even exist—especially considering New York City is so fast-paced, and events like this are quickly forgotten. To make the NYPD go back and defend their actions over such a minor event—whether it’s a few people being disruptive or a reckless driver—seems pretty strange.
To me, it shows a level of entitlement, asking the NYPD to look into something like this. It wasn’t a major incident in the grand scheme of things, yet the fact that letters were written and a meeting happened between Harry's team and the NYPD only adds to the weirdness. The fact that two different letters came out with differing conclusions—one stating there was no evidence, the other saying there was—raises more questions.
Now, as far as the legal side of things goes, if Harry only submitted the December letter and not the September one, that could potentially be seen as misleading the court. In the US, failing to submit all relevant documents could result in penalties or sanctions, and in the UK, this could cause significant problems as well.
With all this drama now in the public eye, the legal fallout from these letters could be huge when Harry takes his case to court. The contradictions in the letters and the timing of the meeting in between could play a significant role in shaping the outcome.
