The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have top of the line private security, with bodyguards who are retired cops, soldiers and ex-Secret Service agents. Harry and Meghan have that security so they can live their lives, take their kids to school, work, spend time with friends and exist in the world. For the past three years, people marveled at how secure their setup was in America, how they have been able to travel and work without being seen or swarmed. That went away last Tuesday, when there was a two-hour paparazzi chase in New York following their appearance at the Ms. Foundation event at the Ziegfeld Theater. What was interesting is what I said at the very start of this debacle: Harry and Meghan gave the paparazzi their “money shot” as they left the Ziegfeld. Harry, Meghan and Doria all left through a public exit and the paps got their photos of Meghan’s dress. That was the lucrative shot in the year 2023: the fashion photo. Not a photo of Meg and Harry looking stressed out in the back of an SUV.
So, the fact that they walked outside the Ziegfeld and gave the paparazzi their money shot is now being used against the Sussexes. As in, how dare they give the paparazzi the photos the paps wanted, that’s why the paps had to stalk them for hours in New York. It’s really frustrating and stupid to watch various media outlets use the paparazzi’s narratives as a way to bash the Sussexes, but let’s get into it:
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle personally decided to walk in front of the group of photographers outside the Ziegfeld Ballroom on Tuesday night — who they later blamed for an allegedly “near-catastrophic car chase.” The couple’s decision was made despite their security being led by a former member of Barack Obama’s Secret Service detail known as “the king of the back exits” for his ability to quietly get celebrities out of high-profile situations.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were accompanied by Chris Sanchez, a renowned ex-Secret Serviceman, as they left the Ziegfeld Ballroom on Tuesday night. Sanchez was with the Sussexes as they jumped from a blacked-out SUV into a yellow taxi while trying to escape from the photographers who were trying to follow them back to a friend’s home.
A source close to the Sussexes told us the couple decided to walk out the back of the ballroom around 10 p.m. because they wanted to give waiting photographers a shot of them.
“Harry and Meghan were willing to give everyone those shots when they left the event, that was not the problem, but they were tailed from that point on,” the source said. The couple, however, did not stop to pose. Photographs show an initially smiling Harry leading his wife by the hand, with his expression then turning to a scowl.
Finally a large group of security blocked photographers trying to photograph them getting into their waiting SUV. But this has all sparked questions about how the debacle came to pass, as one highly-placed source told us: “Chris is one of the best security men out there, he’s extremely savvy. He’s been with Harry and Meghan countless times – including with them in New York – and made sure they were not seen. He’s honestly known as the king of the back exits and can help get his principals (clients) out without ever being seen, so I have no clue how this all happened,” the source added.
Gee, I wonder what the “source” would have said if Harry and Meghan had used the back exit and had denied that paparazzi scrum the exit photos? Then the argument would have been: the paps HAD to aggressively trail the Sussexes because Harry and Meg didn’t pose for us or give us a lucrative payday! That’s why the pap chase never made sense to me from the paparazzi’s perspective – why were you physically menacing Harry and Meghan to get photos… when they gave you guys your most lucrative shots as they exited the theater? Unless you’re saying the “paparazzi” were under orders to instigate confrontations to get photos of, say, Meghan crying in a car or Harry freaking out on a pap?
The argument of “the paps wanted to know where M&H were staying” doesn’t make sense either – if it was about discovering their destination, surely the goal (for the paps) would have been to track the Sussexes as stealthily as possible, to set up a future exclusive of the Sussexes exiting wherever they were staying? Anyway, people keep jumping through these crazy mental hoops just to victim-blame the Sussexes.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: BeautifulSignatureIG / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
They are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. It doesn’t matter with the tabloids the stories will always be negative. They try to do this to make their crap family at home look better but it is not working. The tabloids are backing the wrong horses.
Susan I do hope I’m wrong, but I have a very bad feeling that something terrible is going to happen if this hate campaign keeps going
Mary I don’t think you’re wrong. I also believe that Harry knows what’s going on. I’m sure he will do all in his power to protect his family. I’m hoping that the trial will expose all. Until then all we can do is keep them in our thoughts and prayers that they will be safe.
Just remember this. For every 1 person that hates and smears them, there are 99 other people cheering them on and supporting them. It’s so easy to focus on the negative and miss the positive.
Even on Twitter with its bots, the fact is, the majority of people actually on Twitter only lurk and rarely, if ever post. So, Twitter doesn’t represent the world and neither does other social media.
I, too, hope you’re wrong, and, of course, I totally get where you’re coming from. Organized hate, personalized hate is very worrisome. This has reminded me of Orwell — except the “hate” is lasting a lot longer than two minutes.
I’ve long felt that there were so many deliberate unanswered questions— or, at least publicly unanswered— concerning Diana’s death. Again, I’m wondering who is behind all of this and what other things is the focus on Harry and Meghan deflecting our attention from?
Harry and Meghan tried to be nice to those fuckers and the paps took it too far. I bet you they won’t be nice at the Gracie Awards this week. It will be back doors entering and exiting and red carpet photos with authorized press entities I’m between.
And, yes, I’m 100% certain both of them will be at the Gracie Awards. They’re in LA. They can go home straight afterwards. The UK tabloids aren’t going to succeed at forcing them into hiding.
Hear! Hear! That what those UK sh*t hounds want. They are promoting the hell out of the Wales’ back in the UK while waging a terror campaign against the Sussexes. They know Harry’s trigger and they don’t give a damn what they do to set him off for an angry pic of him. I hope that H&M show up for the Gracie’s looking fab and showing them who is boss. If they let these pigs scare them into hiding, this harassment will go on forever.
There would have been paps at every exit. Remember that’s what happened in Paris? Diana and Dodi used the back exit but the paps were there too.
I’m very uncomfortable that the tabloids are naming the security people the Sussexes are using. That must go some way to making it more difficult for them to do their job?
You’re right. Jill Biden is being honored with the biggest award of the evening. She will probably be there and that means it’s going to be on total lockdown security wise. No wonder the UK paps decided to go HAM in NY, this was the best shot in 6 months of getting anything juicy on the Sussexes.
New York meant a possible hotel stay, dinner dates, glamour shots, etc. LA won’t give them those possibilities, especially with the First Lady likely being there.
The chase wasn’t really about photos. The chase was to scare Harry into not testifying. The reason it happened at this time. Is because it was the only time they knew where at least Meaghan would be. They don’t know where they go most of the time until afterwards. So this was this was their only shot. I really think Murdoch is starting to sweat. The dominion case. And Smartmatic coming up. Harry suing him in England. And aren’t there a couple others in other countries? Its making a lot more people wake up to how damaging he is to the world.
Cathy, I remember that too. The night Diana was killed she exited the back door of the Ritz. This is all just pure gaslighting. Whatever H&M did, the paps and their enablers were going to say they should have done something else. It’s sick.
I thought it was reported that they used a back exit. There are so many conflicting details of how they exited the ballroom that I don’t know anymore. The paps were reported to be circling the venue all night so no exit was safe.
This undermines the last excuse that the paps gave to the NYT that Harry and Meghan didn’t pose for pictures so that’s why they had to chase them all over Manhattan. If they gave them the shot why did they try to follow them home? Furthermore, Backgrid said they thought Harry and Meghan were going to dinner after the dinner at the Ms Foundation event. It’s clear that a bounty was put out to find out where they were staying and to get pictures of them in the car. I also think that the British press and the paps thought that Harry and Meghan would stay quiet about the incident. Now that they haven’t they’re trying make excuses as why they needed to follow Harry and Meghan to their apartment. Anybody who says that it was wrong to put out that statement is delusional.
I think Murdoch outlets are piggy backing and feasting on the UK tabloids’ mess so they don’t have to ‘keep a story straight’ with Backgrid/DM they can just say whatever they want.
This storyline has been so frustrating to me that I’ve deliberately refrained from clicking on each and every one of them. (I try to be selective for the sake of my own mental health.) However, I remember distinctly that this “Why didn’t they stop and pose?” “Why did they try to evade the ‘paparazzi’ and let this develop into a chase?” and “If only they had posed for pictures, they wouldn’t have been chased.” Then, the whole “They’re public figures and should expect people to take pictures of them” rose up again, in order to bolster the media’s “They deserved it” narrative. Oh, so now that this line of reasoning has failed, it’s come back to “Why didn’t they leave by the back?” Yeah, right. Some of us have loong memories and can remember back to… last week.
Why should they slip out the back? They aren’t the “under the stairs” help.
Meghan can walk wherever she pleases, just like every other free child of god.
Remember all that talk during her baby shower?? Everyone was saying she should have just used the back door. She can walk in and out of the front door if she damn well wants to.
Yes, this! Co-sign
I continue to believe this was a calculated ambush of the Sussexes. In the end the paparazzi did not get what they wanted. What that is I do not know. I believe the Sussexes top notch team prevented the whatever and these folks are now left with egg on their faces while trying to sling it on the Sussexes. Pretty sure valuable lessons were learned by their security team as well as the Sussexes and strategies have now been put in place to prevent this from happening again. From what I have seen through CNN coverage online the Sussexes team was on point trying to negotiate a safe exit strategy for this couple. All of this I do believe can be traced back to Harry’s willingness to take the witness stand and the complicity his family had with the leaking of information that effected him so badly. His family’s silence re this assault is my confirmation. I continue to wish this couple well❤️
The negative smear campaign has apparently seeped across the ocean and makes me nervous for Harry. I hope all goes well with his testimony and that he returns to his family safe and sound afterwards.
I believe it was British tabloids coming over here causing the chase. American paps don’t pull this treacherous approach usually. They had a mission to get certain kinds of photos, to scare the hell out of them and snap trauma pix.
Didn’t one of the podcast hosts say his sources were reporting the paps hitting parked cars and continuously circling the block waiting for the Sussexes to exit. The pap spotters had all exits covered. It was like that in Paris, where pap spotters had all sides of Diana’s hotel covered.
The fact that they’ve written their umpteenth article on why it was all the Sussexes fault and not the tabloids means that their stories and excuses aren’t landing with the general public. The general public believe that this was almost Diana dying at the hands of paps 2.0 and no amount of spin is swaying them.
When this first came out we were all incredibly upset, Monday morning quarterbacking, disputes about communication and thinking we’ll never see Meghan in public again. Was really upset with so-called respected media amplifying the skepticism without asking the who, what, why questions. Was discussing this in twitter spaces and cooler heads are starting to prevail, and the Sussexes are going to be fine and move on from this. Now we’re starting to see the stupid petulant stories about hotel costs or back entrances. Didn’t they arrive through the back entrance or garage? I’m not getting the argument here. The Sussexes were very gracious and accommodating in letting the photographers get great photos. We still don’t know why they had to pursue them and who was actually doing it. This is just another version of Sussexes need to go into hiding for someone else’s convenience.
The paps idiots just assured the Gracie Awards will be on lockdown. LAPD and LA’s mayor will not want a repeat of NYC or god forbid Paris. The media nay nobs are afraid criminal charges are coming.
Is Jill Biden scheduled to be there? I thought I saw she was being honored. If so, security will be tight.
IIRC, the Hertz IS at the back of the theatre. The main entrance is on 54th St. Hertz is on the other side on 55th St.
It’s a stupid, victim-blaming question from Page Six (which seems to be in overdrive in undermining Harry & Meghan re: the paps chasing them for two hours) but it’s also inaccurate. I also highly doubt any source “close to the Sussexes” is going to confide in anyone at Page Six.
Page Six is equal to the Sun. The Sun is using Page Six to circumvent Harry and Meghan’s refusal to work with them. I have no doubt that the pieces written about Harry and Meghan are done in the UK and given to Page Six to publish.
This line of thinking feels weird coming from the paps. But it sounds right up the BRF’s alley! They definitely don’t want the pap shots showing the couple thriving. It makes Kate and her wiglet’s attempts at glamour look tragic.
I agree with others…the abuse and gaslighting is getting dangerous.
This is ridiculous, I’ve been to the Ziegfield a few times, there is no “back”. The front and back entrance both open onto busy streets. There was no way for them to avoid being seen.
Oh, really? That’s a detail I was unaware of. Good to know.
There is a side entrance that’s an open walk through. People can sit there, it would be easy to get swarmed there. All you have to do is keep circling the block, or position people. Unless there’s an underground entrance I don’t know about (that’s possible) there is no way to leave the theater without being seen. It was built for the Ziegfeld Follies and then it became a movie theater. I saw Titanic and Chicago there. They stopped doing movies and it became an event place.
@Mel, I also saw many movies there and was so sad when it closed. It was such a beautiful theater! So “Old New York.” But yeah, it’s completely surrounded by very busy blocks so there really is no “secret, private” way out, especially when these paps were clearly stalking every entrance and exit. They — especially the British media— take advantage of the fact that most people don’t know the logistics so they can make up any story they want as long as it paints the Sussexes as the villains.
This is victim blaming. Again.
“Look what you made me do” and “your skirt was too short”. This is such a stupid argument I don’t even know where to start. Yeah, they should hide better and stay home forever. M&H are allowed to live their lives without being chased and hunted. I am really scared that at one point sth will happen. I so hope the lawsuit will expose all the sick machinations and possibly shed more light on how Diana was hunted.
At this point I think both the US media and the UK media are just using H + M to distract from the horrendous laws/policies that are being pushed by our respective politicians. They want the public to be uninformed so lets rag on two private citizens that are going about their daily lives. I maybe completely wrong though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If the “money shot” is the full picture, head to toe, of the outfits, then they already gave it freely coming and going. Which leads me to believe the whole chase was motivated by something else beyond discovering their overnight location: either ‘bounty shots’ of them looking distressed in car, or something more sinister.
My first thought when news of this got out was witness intimidation because Harry is heading back to the UK in 2weeks to testify against the tabloids. It didn’t make sense to chase them because they had amazing photos of them from the event, and then chase them for such a long time. So glad the Sussexes stayed calm and looked calm so they couldn’t get any distress photos.
“witness intimidation” – agreed
@Kirk, apparently only one photographer was given the rights to shoot them inside, so the others made no money from the posed shots. Obviously I’m not excusing what these disgusting people did, but that was their reasoning…they spent the whole night trying to get a Sussex pic so in their minds they were “doing what they needed to do” to make their money. As if that’s the Sussexes’ responsibility, and they owe the photographers their livelihoods 🙄
I think the intention was to make them afraid and scare them into seclusion. They are hoping for Harry to relive his post traumatic stress and get riled up. I hope he takes them for all they have.
The cover is outrageous. No matter how they try to spin it H and M are the victims here. I do have one thing though. In the taxi the three of them are not wearing a seat belt. After the Diana and how they are such a target they should wear it always.
Everyone knows this, but it bears repeating: Page Six is part of a Murdoch rag. It will do everything it can to undermine and endanger H&M.
What’s surprising is that TMZ, another Murdoch entity, has confirmed the Sussexes’ version of events.
Well, there were two men who have said that when they came out of their building that night (close by) security told them that 6-7 parked cars had been hit by the circling photogs. Murdoch learned something from the Dominion lawsuit and with Smartmatic’s lawsuit heating up. I think TMZ told the truth because they didn’t want the liability.
this pretty much proves my point that the whole chase thing wasn’t about paps at all….that is was an attempt to take out all 3 caregivers of those 2 little children. they WANTED a fiery crash, just like the one that killed Princess Diana. the kids would have then belonged to their only remaining “family”, ie the Crown.
Everything that has come out since only confirms my suspicions. the one pap saying that “it may be the last photo taken of Harry alive” , I think the “bounty” of £60K for a shot of pissed off Harry was a trap for the paps. It allowed those responsible (?MI6? Camilla?) plausible deniability.
This is really scary for them. It sounds to me like the RF wants them dead. And I’m not generally someone who subscribes to conspiracy theories.
I’m sure H&M have wills, and they will have appointed guardians for the children, so I doubt anyone in the UK would get two American children. I will never believe that the brf want the children.
If they stood still or had a time for photos, fine.
I would always do a posed photo opp, then ditch out the back if I was famous.
Why take chances with anything?
I blame poor security planning for this chaos.
Never should have happened.
But, saying that I also know that things change on the fly.
In the future, better security. Better planning.
Back in the day, Elvis always “Left the building.” The Beatles did too. Off stage and MOVE.
And that was decades ago.
Take no chances from here on out.
Security didn’t allow them to stop. All three were on the move from door to car door. That was no accident. This wasn’t the blame of security. Who would have assumed that the photographers were willing to break the law to get pictures. It’s serious when they almost hit people and police officers.
I think their security is going to be doing this differently now. The bm/brf blew the one chance. Thank God.
I can’t imagine how triggering and traumatizing this must have been for Harry, and how terrified Meghan and Doria must have been. And here we have Page Six and other scummy tabloids piling on them for not using a back exit which apparently doesn’t even exist. Can they not show even one iota of compassion and concern given this is exactly what killed Harry’s mother? Can they not lift their heads out of the tabloid muck-raking long enough to express their abhorrence over what happened and show the Sussexes and Doria some f*cking sympathy and respect??? I hope Harry goes Rambo on the tabloids and his f*cking father and brother — it’s clear the collusion between them is carrying on full speed ahead.
Sorry about all the f-bombs but this makes me furious.
Also Page Six is officially cancelled with me I’ll never read another word including any coverage about their pieces. Screw them
Page 6 is totally deranged about Megan. I randomly looked at their “royal gossip” and every article was about her. Megan and Camilla have the same purse… Megan’s friend dissed Kate…blah blah. It is so depressing because this kind of garbage seeps into the collective consciousness and becomes normalized.
Page 6 has been horrible since Reagan was president. And it regularly sucked up to Trump even before his hype went national.
If you looked closely at the exit photos, you see the unusual sight of a security guy leading Doria by hand and two other security guys had their hands against Meghan’s back . The public exit was quite crowded and chaotic, and the security guys seemed concerned for their safety, hence the unusual sight of them leading the principals by hand
Drop those wrathful 400 pages, Harry.
My thoughts exactly as soon as this turned into such a shitshow (well, I’ve actually been hoping for it as soon as I learned they existed, lol, but they keep giving Harry more reasons to publish it and I hope this weekend put him over the edge and he just goes for it).
What version are we on? Any way to twist and blame the victims. Whereas the Sussexes have had one story and stick with it. Near-catastrophic is absolutely correct.
I am serious when I say the security protection people around H&M must be going mad trying to do their best.
These photos, look how close non security people (paps) are to H&M.
Look at Harry step in front, trying to get distance and keep M behind him as much as he can.
Any one of those people that physically close to them is a threat.
Get TF back!
Then the traffic/driving/chase. It is ALL dangerous.
Look at the SS around Pres. O.
They are literally a wall of tall, powerfully built, highly trained professionals. I noticed that the SS agents closest to Pres. are equal height or taller than him, that is not by accident.
SS stand within, I’d say 1-2′ from him at all times.
You want a photo, you better hold that camera as high as possible, hold the shutter down and hope you get 1 usable pic from the entire event.
As dangerous as the paps are, my biggest concern is any person with unstable thoughts can get close. Too damn close or the paps will be the distraction that makes it possible for someone to get too close.
Heykay, I get your point but they don’t have the resources of a head of state. They have an experienced security team including at least one former SS, they know what they’re doing. But they weren’t in control at the venue, they probably couldn’t set a perimeter. How many SS and police are with the president? It’s not a fair comparison for a private citizen. During the drive they did all they could and went to a police station. The police cordened off the street but they were still pursued on bikes and scooters. The SS guy said he’d never seen anything like it. The fact they’re not dead and no one was injured (I do believe that was the goal and they weren’t all paps) is a testament to their security team, that they didn’t panic and kept them alive. Blaming their security is not helpful.
TheOldChickSays,
I meant to use the SS and Pres. as an example that H&M need proper security.
Charles must give H&M the full royal protection team, paid for by Charles.
No more excuses from him.
I do think the security team did do their best.
But I’d take no chances in the future.
Charles can only really give him royal protection in the UK. We’re talking about his US security who are not amateurs. They didn’t take chances. Do you see you’re still blaming them for not doing a good job? Again, no one was hurt in an untenable situation. They did an outstanding job. Can we stop saying they should do better?
They have proper security. This incident was unprecedented. How much more experienced than SS do you want? Charles can only give ‘royal’ security in the UK. This is his US security. It’s a different story. You’re suggesting it’s not proper security and they can do better. No one was injured in an unprecedented situation. They did an astonishing job, kept cool, did everything they could. This blaming the victims is not the way to go.
Well at this point, NY won’t catch them being nice again like this.
So a Black Woman and her Caucasian husband are supposed to exit the backdoor of an establishment?
Jim Crow is that you?
I really really want an America media outlet to print the truth and make the connection that nothing like this coordinated pap attack has happened to Meg and Harry since moving to the US until Harry appeared in court for his lawsuit against the tabloids. The story has a lot of what I think US audience would eat up: the conspiracy of powerful unchecked forces trying to kill Diana’s son with the same playbook, etc. The right wing is just so organized and relentless with their lies and disinformation. I’d love for a real journalist to blow this all wide open in the US like how they did with Brett Favre welfare scandal.
Harry and Meghan gave them photo opportunites as they were leaving. There would have been so much hate if they had sneaked out the back. What was the desperate and aggressive need to chase them, H & M are usually accommodating and stop for photos. Photos identifying their security team are scary when all security to do with BRF is not identified and usually blurred in photos. The intensity of the vile gossip writers to discredit and defame everyone involved who tells the truth sets a very dangerous precedent, considering none of them were there.
The paps are working for high level people to make H&M look bad for the Royal Family. Charles knows what’s going on, William he knows as well, he wants them scared not dead. Princess Diana’s story is coming up again & people who did Charles dirty work, are getting scared. Somebody with influence &money paid to have Princess Diana gone. Charles was not about to be upstaged with Camilla on his case. Charles & Camilla are not King & Queen, only in their world. Princess Diana is the Queen in everyone’s eyes, & Camilla will never be Able to get that respect. She manipulates her ex & Charles, William & Kate, got a fight on their hands. H&M will be sitting back laughing. We will protect Harry &Megan & kiddos they are on our turf!