Taxi driver who drove Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during car chase breaks silence

A taxi driver who drove Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for about 10 minutes during a "near catastrophic" car chase with paparazzi on Tuesday (16 May) evening has broken his silence about the ordeal.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in a statement that the pair, along with Meghan's mother Doria Ragland, were involved in a "relentless" chase with paparazzi after an appearance at an award ceremony.

"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 spokesperson told Cosmopolitan UK. "This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers."

Now, a cabbie who was part of the chase has spoken out. In an interview with the BBC, Sukhcharn Singh – who goes by the name Sonny – said he picked the royals up at a local police precinct in Midtown Manhattan where they had tried to take shelter from the paparazzi.

"I was on 67th Street and then the security guard hailed me. Next thing you know, Prince Harry and his wife were hopping into my cab," he said. "We got blocked by a garbage truck, and all of a sudden paparazzi came and started taking pictures."

Singh explained that just as Harry – whose mother died in a car accident in 1997 – and Meghan were about to share their destination, the security guard made a call to the police precinct and advised them to return.

"They looked nervous, I think they were being chased the whole day or something," the cabbie said of the Sussexes. "They were pretty nervous, but the security guard, he was on it."

Despite pointing out that the pair were clearly distressed, Singh said that, for at least the few minutes he drove the royals, he did not believe they were in danger. The cabbie claimed that the ordeal had been "exaggerated", although he admitted that much of it "must have happened before".

Describing the paparazzi, Singh said he didn't think they were aggressive during his portion of the drive, adding: "They were behind us. I mean, they stayed on top of us, that was pretty much it, it was nothing more. They kept their distance."

Singh's account is a stark contrast to that of Chris Sanchez, a member of the Duke and Duchess' security detail. He told CNN that the chase was "very chaotic" and that "it could have been fatal".

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