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Prince Harry Feared Meghan Would Meet Same Fate as Princess Diana Months Before “Near Catastrophic” Car Chase
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Prince Harry Feared Meghan Would Meet Same Fate as Princess Diana Months Before “Near Catastrophic” Car Chase

This situation was eerily similar to the one that caused Princess Diana's death which Prince Harry has dreaded all his life.

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Dominic Lipinski; (R) Pascal Rondeau / Allsport

Prince Harry may have foreseen a terrifying case of déjà vu.

On May 16, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, together with her mother Doria Ragland, were involved in a "near catastrophic car chase" with "highly aggressive paparazzi" as they were returning from a gala in New York City, according to a representative for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, per PEOPLE.

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"This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians, and two NYPD officers," their representative told E! News in a statement. "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."



 

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The frightening incident, which thankfully occurred without the presence of the couple's two children, Archie Harrison, 4, and Lilibet Diana, 23 months, comes just five months after Harry opened up about his concern that his wife would suffer a similar heartbreaking fate and his late mother, Princess Diana.

"I was terrified," Harry said in their Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan. "I didn't want history to repeat itself."



 

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Harry—who previously stepped back from royal duties in 2020—was just 12 years old when his mother and Dodi Fayed were killed in a car crash in Paris' Ponte de l'Alma tunnel, with their driver smashing into a pillar as they were rushing away from paparazzi.

The father-of-two noted in the documentary, "My job is to keep my family safe. But the nature of being born into this position amid everything that comes with it and the level of hate that is being stirred up in the last three years, especially against my wife and my son, I'm generally concerned for the safety of my family."

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The death of his mother had a significant impact on the way the 38-year-old perceived the paparazzi. "I think one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that the people that chased her into the tunnel," Harry shared in the 2017 BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days, "were the same people that were taking photographs of her while she was still dying in the backseat of the car."

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He described it as a wound that is still untreated. "I think being part of this family, and this role, and this job," he told ITV in October 2019, "every single time I see a camera, every single time I hear a click, every single time I see a flash, it takes me straight back."



 

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References:

https://people.com/royals/meghan-markle-prince-harry-involved-car-chase-paparazzi-new-york-city/

https://www.eonline.com/news/1374664/prince-harry-shared-fear-meghan-markle-would-have-same-fate-as-princess-diana-months-before-car-chase

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TepIosuf324

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-10-17/prince-harry-diana-grief-meghan-markle-an-african-journey-itv-tom-bradby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rlVhiXlcHU

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Dominic Lipinski; (R) Pascal Rondeau / Allsport