You win some, you lose some.
London’s High Court ruled Wednesday that Prince Harry and his immediate family, including wife Meghan Markle, will not be able to use tax-funded police protection when they visit the UK, per multiple reports.
However, at the same time, the Duke of Sussex scored a minor victory in the US, as it has been revealed Wednesday that the New York Police Department has reportedly conceded that last year’s scandalous paparazzi car chase in the concrete jungle was indeed “reckless” and “dangerous.”
Page Six has reached out to Harry and Markle’s reps for comment on the decisions but did not immediately hear back. It’s been reported, though, that the former plans to file an appeal on the UK ruling.
Harry, 39, has maintained that security has been a major issue for him, his wife and their two kids – Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2 – both stateside and overseas ever since he and Markle quit the royal family in 2020.
The Sussexes were stripped of security provided to royals when they stopped working as senior members of the family.
In February 2022, the “Spare” author insisted that he did not “feel safe” in his homeland because his immediate family had allegedly “been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats.”
The Home Office — the lead government department for immigration and passports, drugs policy, crime, fire, counter-terrorism and police in the UK — argued at the time that Harry “failed to appreciate” their role as the “’expert, and democratically accountable, decision-maker’ on matters of protective security.”
Harry, who has spent millions on his own private security, reportedly offered to pay for additional police protection so as to not affect British taxpayers at the time, but the “offer was dismissed.”
Amid the legal proceedings against the Home Office in December 2023, the father of two proclaimed that he still considered the UK his home and wanted his children to feel the same way – but that could not “happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil.”
Harry and Markle, 42, moved to California – her home state – in 2020 and have been residing there with their kids ever since. However, their time in America has been marred by its own security issues.
In May of last year, the couple were left “shaken” by a paparazzi car chase in New York City that their spokesperson claimed lasted two hours and was “near-catastrophic” at the time.
The Sussexes were ridiculed by the public, including talking heads like Whoopi Goldberg, who claimed the pair were exaggerating what had taken place.
“I think people in New York know if it was possible to have car chases in New York, we’d all make it to the theater on time,” the “View” co-host, 68, previously said.
A spokesperson for the NYPD even seemingly downplayed the ordeal at the time, saying, “There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in regard.”
A high-ranking source previously also said that there were “no collision reports or 911 calls” and that the chase “definitely wasn’t two hours.”
However, according to the Daily Beast, the NYPD has had a change of heart, with their Chief of Intelligence telling the Metropolitan Police of London in a Dec. 6, 2023 memo, “We found the following: reckless disregard of vehicle and traffic laws and persistently dangerous and unacceptable behavior on the part of the paparazzi during the night in question.
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“The individuals operated vehicles, scooters, and bicycles in a manner that forced the security team, which included an NYPD Lead Car, to take evasive actions on several occasions and a circuitous route to avoid being struck by pursuing vehicles or trapped on side blocks.”
The intelligence chief concluded that NYPD is even considering pressing charges following their investigation, adding, “We have sufficient evidence to arrest two individuals for reckless endangerment.”
The police department has reportedly also taken steps to better protect the Sussexes the next time they are back in the Big Apple following the paparazzi car chase.
Page Six has reached out to the NYPD for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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