Latest in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle "Car Chase"

When Prince Harry decided to make his shocking departure from his life as a working member of the Royal Family, he revealed that his wife was one of the main motivators. Not only did Harry fear for Meghan Markle's mental health, which had deteriorated after she left her job as an actress in North America to live with Harry in England, but also her physical safety.

Harry has expressed on multiple occasions that he feared that history would repeat itself and Meghan could end up suffering a similar fate as his mother, Princess Diana. Despite the fact that the couple is now living in the United States, one of Harry's biggest fears almost came true, as the couple was involved in a "near catastrophic car chase" in New York City, they say. Read on for the new details.

Harry, Meghan, and Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, were in New York City on Tuesday night for the Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Ballroom. Meghan was there to accept the Women of Vision Award for her global advocacy to empower women and girls from Gloria Steinem. 

However, after leaving the event, the trio experienced two hours of terror due to a paparazzi chase through the city, according to a spokesperson for the couple. The rep maintains that while nobody was injured, it was close to being a tragedy. 

"Last night, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms. Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi," the rep said in a statement. "This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers."

A law enforcement source claims "there was a swarm of paparazzi following Meghan and Harry in cars, motorcycles, scooters on Tuesday," reports CNN. "A NYPD protective team followed Harry and Meghan in another car, and they had to try some evasive maneuvers to get away from the paparazzi."

According to the source, the paparazzi were on bikes and scooters, racing down the sidewalk to keep up with the couple. "There were a lot of close calls including short stops between front and backs of cars – but there was no car accident," CNN reports.

While Harry and Meghan understand that "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 statement continued. "Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved."

In the couple's Netflix series, Harry and Meghan, the Duke of Sussex, shared concern about the fate of his wife. "The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution, this feeding frenzy," Harry commented. "I realized they're never going to protect you," Markle added. "I was terrified," Harry responds. "I didn't want history to repeat itself." 

There are some conflicting reports as to whether or not there was an actual chase. The New York Times reports: "As more details emerged on Wednesday from the accounts of the police and a taxi driver who was briefly involved, the picture became more complicated." Their car was stuck behind a garbage truck when the paps came out.

"They were nervous," the taxi driver, Sukhcharn Singh, told the paper. "His wife looked scared and Harry was nervous. And the other lady was very quiet." The Times added: "The truck moved out of their way less than five minutes later, but as Mr. Singh drove, he said, he saw paparazzi following them in at least two cars. When the couple's security guard noticed they were being followed, he instructed Mr. Singh to drive back to the precinct." The cabbie said he wouldn't exactly call that a chase.