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You’re not OUR royal, Harry is told: US picture agency in ‘car chase’ storm says the Sussexes can’t just demand to see the photos they took, in legal tit-for-tat
- Backgrid USA reportedly said country rejects prince’s ‘rules of royal prerogative’
- Company refuted the Duke and Duchess’ ‘near catastrophic’ car chase claims
An American photo agency has dismissed a demand by Harry and Meghan to hand over pictures from what they claimed was a ‘near catastrophic’ car chase with paparazzi in New York this week.
Backgrid USA reportedly said the prince’s ‘English rules of royal prerogative to demand that the citizenry hand over their property to the Crown were rejected by this country long ago’.
The agency has confirmed it received photos and footage from four freelance photographers – three of whom were in cars and one riding a bicycle – taken on Tuesday night.
But it has rejected claims by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of a ‘near catastrophic’ car chase through Manhattan’s Upper East Side after the couple appeared at an awards ceremony.
The US gossip website TMZ on Thursday published details of the legal tit-for-tat, including part of a letter sent to Backgrid by the Sussexes’ lawyers.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex attend the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards
It reportedly read: ‘We hereby demand that Backgrid immediately provide us with copies of all photos, videos, and/or films taken last night by the freelance photographers after the couple left their event and over the next several hours.’
They are also pushing the New York Police Department to investigate, according to reports. The Mail has sought comment from the Sussexes’ legal team in the UK.
Backgrid firmly rejected the request to hand over footage. TMZ carried an excerpt from the agency’s legal response, which said: ‘In America, as I’m sure you know, property belongs to the owner of it. Third parties cannot just demand it be given to them.
‘Perhaps you should sit down with your client and advise them that his English rules of royal prerogative to demand that the citizenry hand over their property to the Crown were rejected by this country long ago.’
Backgrid added: ‘We stand by our founding fathers.’
The agency said it had launched its own investigation as it did not ‘condone any form of harassment or illegal activity’. But it has also said the photographers on Tuesday night ‘had no intention of causing any distress or harm, as their only tool was their cameras’.
Doria Ragland, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York on Tuesday
Security officers working for the couple have said they feared for the safety of members of the public who were caught up in what they maintain was a frightening incident.
In a statement on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Sussexes said: ‘While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety.’
The incident happened after the couple attended the Women of Vision awards ceremony.
Yesterday an unnamed friend of Harry said he would use what happened in New York to strengthen his legal claim against the Home Office over using Metropolitan Police protection when in the UK.
The friend told the i newspaper it was a ‘clear demonstration’ of why the duke and his family are in a ‘different category’ from other celebrity couples.
However a senior Home Office source said: ‘This was an incident in New York, not London,’ adding: ‘The duke and duchess would not face car chases with the paparazzi in the UK.’
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