‘Suspicious of a cover-up’: The ‘catastrophic’ minutes in Prince Harry’s life that left him ‘scared’ and made him relive a tragedy still haunting him

Some nights leave scars deeper than others, and for Prince Harry, one evening in Manhattan was enough to revive old fears and stir new suspicions. What began as a routine drive home from an event quickly turned into a chaotic ordeal, leaving the Duke of Sussex shaken but demanding answers.

In May 2023, Harry and Meghan Markle found themselves caught up in a car chase. As the couple, joined by Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, attempted to make their way through Manhattan after an awards event, the situation reportedly spiraled into chaos. According to the couple, they were involved in a “near catastrophic car chase” with a “ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.” The chase reportedly lasted over two hours. Yes, “New York traffic” and “high-speed” are inherently contradictory, but Harry was worried about the immediate danger that night. He was haunted by the shadows of his past, by the tragedy that changed his life forever.

What followed was a month-long saga of inquiries, emails, and a touch of drama fit for a royal soap opera. Harry wasn’t content with leaving the matter to the hands of the NYPD. Reports suggest the Duke pushed hard for arrests, allegedly demanding answers from the department while accusing them of dragging their feet. His security team, TorchStone, complained to the NYPD that “The Duke feels intentionally misled and is suspicious of a cover-up.”

The tension boiled over as letters from New York’s police force crisscrossed the Atlantic. First, a September note dismissed the possibility of charges due to insufficient evidence. Three months later, a follow-up suggested there might actually be a case to answer for. Confused yet? So was Harry. His response was an email from his security team, demanding answers—or arrests. And if the NYPD couldn’t deliver, Harry hinted at escalating the matter to California’s governor and even the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Was Harry exaggerating? Well, the idea of a high-speed chase through the city’s famously gridlocked streets sounds a bit suspicious. New York Mayor Eric Adams found Harry’s story to be “hard to believe.” Sukhcharn Singh, a taxi driver who drove the Sussexes for part of their evening, described the scene as chaotic but stopped short of calling it catastrophic. “They kept following us and were coming next to the car. They took pictures as we stopped and were filming us. I don’t think I would call it a chase. I never felt like I was in danger. It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared, but it’s New York—it’s safe,” Singh told the Washington Post.

The taxi driver’s account may be the real answer here. A car chase can be stressful, but the average person will forget about it in a week or so. Harry is not the average person, not because he is a member of the Royal Family, but because a car chase holds a different meaning to Harry. The echoes of Princess Diana’s fatal car crash in 1997 were impossible to ignore. It’s no wonder that he approached the aftermath with an obsessive behavior. He wasn’t just protecting himself or Meghan; he was standing against a cycle of reckless pursuit that once took everything from him.

But in the court of public opinion, the narrative remains as divided as Manhattan’s grid. Were the duke and duchess genuinely in peril, or was the incident exaggerated? Regardless of where the truth lies, with Harry at the helm, you can bet he’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.