Harry and Meghan and Doria car accident?

[OneFrenchEgg]

Just heard this on the radio, does anyone have an actual source? Can't see it anywhere yet, I'm sure that is what I heard, assume not 'serious' as in risk to them?

Secondly because they think they can have their cake and eat it.

What does this dumb statement mean? They think they should be able to decide how they live their life and not be stalked and harassed?

I’m blaming them for potentially exaggerating and for their security not having a plan and handling it.
every one knew they would be followed from that event, if they didn’t want people knowing where they were staying they had to have a plan.

I’d imagine the poster meant they want their pap attention at times, but not others. And it doesn’t work like that. If you court attention, you court attention.

My first stop would be a police station if it was me, not some random hotel. How is the hotel supposed to prevent paparazzi from getting in ??

The paps chasing them is legal in New York. So the police cannot help.

they cannot follow them into the hotel

Rubbish. ALL celebrities court attention but no human being wants attention 24/7 of their fucking life.

How would you know how to handle this situation? It happens to a lot of celebrities with expensive security. They get overwhelmed. You’re actually blaming them for the harassment. That’s what it is. They went to an event, plenty of photos there. They just want to know where they’re staying so they can make their friends lives hell. Her mother has been harassed too over the years. Just going to work and walking the dog. Is she exaggerating? You’re actually taking a position, without even knowing if it’s an exaggeration. I posted a witness account. How can you blame them at all when you have no basis for it.

Exactly!

This idea that if you’re a public figure that’s it, you’re courting attention so we can harass you! Is stupid immoral bullshit. People should have the right to say no, this part you don’t get photos for. No, you cannot come to our house or our friends house. No you cannot stalk me 24/7.

No no one wants 24/7 attention but if you choose to go to a event where you actively court attention and then don’t like the attention you do get when you arrive/leave it then don’t go to the event. Also don’t invite photographers on “private hikes”. Their security was absolutely shambolic and are at fault here. But for them to try and mislead the public and attempt to elicit sympathy by likening it to what happened to Diana is I agree beyond the pale.

Vanity Fair Reporter Erin Vanderhoof

I'm seeing a little confusion here, so I'll try to clear it up! Paps were following them for two hours to figure out where Meghan and Harry were staying, they were circling Manhattan to avoid taking them back to a friend's house
The economics of the industry are such that regular pictures don't really sell but an exclusive of them in a private setting, like exiting a friend's apartment building in casual clothes, could be worth a BUNCH
They, on the other hand, have legit stalkers (one got arrested at their house just this week!) and have good reasons not to publicize their location. Other people might have just given up after a little while
it sounds legit insane to behave in this way, but any legal risk is outweighed, in the minds of the photographers, by the fact that a good photo of the kids could make enough for four years of private college tuition. or more!

in the uk the press interest in them is HUGE and very, very negative. we once counted the number of stories the daily mail ran on meghan during a month where she made no public appearances. it was more than 100!

https://twitter.com/vanderhoofy/status/1658911416642936874

They have security. If they didn't, paps would just be sat in the foyer of the Four Seasons or the Ritz-Carlton photographing guests as they came and went. Or wandering into the dining room snapping them eating their breakfast.

They have made themselves look like twats. And that was all because their spokesperson chose to make it sound like they’d been in a serious accident.

Paparazzi are scum. But in this case I believe that Harry and Meghan went out of their way to turn this into a huge drama. How does this not happen to any of the other more popular celebs?

That’s right. Because they stay in their blacked out SUVs and retire to a swanky hotel.

And they haven’t been calling Backgrid for flattering shots for the last two years. This is a drama of H&Ms own making. The timing makes me entirely suspicious.

How does this not happen to any of the other more popular celebs?

It does. As I keep saying, it absolutely happens to others. I’m surprised so many people here are suddenly unaware.

And they haven’t been calling Backgrid for flattering shots for the last two years. This is a drama of H&Ms own making. The timing makes me entirely suspicious.

Stop with this nonsense claim already. Just because Backgrid appears on a photo doesn’t mean they’ve organised it.

Is she saying these were uk photographers?

Harry says that this harassing of them by paps is happening all the time and they're scared. Hence wanting PPO protection in the UK. If that's true, he must surely know that the paps will be at their worst in NY and LA. So why choose to stay with friends and endanger them? Surely he, Meghan or one of their security team must have twigged this could happen when, according to them, this is what they have to out up withvall the time?
It's sad they can't stay with their friend but surely they'd be considerate enough not to inflict this on people they liked?

From what I read they went to a police precinct, didn’t go in, got in a cab, drove round for 10 mins, then went back, actually went in, and then were immediately escorted to their destination.

I don’t think aggressive paps are okay, for the record, but they/their security team handled this extremely ineffectively by the sounds of it.

Why not just go in immediately? Why fuck around with changing vehicles etc? Bizarre

Can't decide if this is stupidity or deliberately disingenous. They went to an event. The media can get photos there. Why should they then be followed around after the event? The event is over. Why should they paps get pics of their friend's house? Don't the friends deserve privacy?

I think it's actually quite commendable for H & M to want to protect their friends privacy and drive around for 2 hours to do so. But it would have been extremely stressful for them.

BTW the pap that took the photo of M on the hike has said they weren't called by Meghan in advance. He said it on twitter.

This really. It wasn’t the smartest move to leave a vehicle with blacked out windows to get in a car with full view of them.

I’d also suggest that staying at a friends house isn’t the best option if you’re aware this is likely to be a problem. Hotels are set up to deal with this kind of thing and given they were there to attend a public event they were always going to draw some degree of attention.

They can go months without any press attention (didn’t see a trace of M when H was promoting his book) so it’s clearly possible.

It’s all very well saying that you don’t want the attention but if the reality is this kind of circus then you have to deal with reality. I question their own judgement as well as any security they’ve employed.

The police helped them switch to a taxi because there are so many taxis in NY, they thought it would be easier to evade them that way. It didn’t work so they went back to their car. It’s funny that so many mumsnetters think they know more about security than their security team ( who have spoken out about it ) and NYPD.?

I think they need a better security team, a better spokesperson and a cup of tea.

But they won't, they thrive on drama.

This

Pull into the police station, regroup with your security team for a strategy that will get you where you want to go without putting anyone at risk, get back into your convoy of 4 SUV's with blacked out windows and trained security drivers and head off safely to a different address,(if your aim in not going directly is to protect the address of the friends who have loaned you their home).

Squashing the 3 of them into the back of a yellow cab, with some poor random driver, in what they now announce was a dangerous and almost catastrophic situation, is foolhardy at best and negligent at worst, and just beggars belief,

It's a shame that this is the whole story on the front pages this morning, instead of seeing awareness raised for the charity that gave Meghan the award.

The cab drivers said he picked them up at 11pm outside the 19th Precinct (police station) but then they were stopped behind a truck and the paparazzi (most on foot) swarmed the car. The 19th Precinct is 2.2km from the Ziegler Ballroom where the event was held. It is reported they left the event at 10pm and so it seems given NYC traffic, they were hounded and followed by paparazzi who probably could easily keep up with them on foot or by bike. An hour after they left the event, they had travelled just over two kms when they pulled into the Precinct and then got in the cab. Given all the paparazzi were there and waiting at the Precinct, I am not sure whose idea it was to get into a cab that would then be stopped at lights right where all the paparazzi where. The cab driver said he just drove them around the block and dropped them back off at the same 19th Precinct about 10 minutes later as the cab get away had ben unsuccessful. It seems then at this point, police helped them in some fashion with an escort to get away from the paparazzi.