Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle were involved in a “near catastrophic” car crash, after being chased by paparazzi in New York City.

The incident happened, on Tuesday, and also involved Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland. 

The trio attended an award ceremony in the American city when the incident occurred shortly after. 

“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” the spokesperson for Mr Harry said in a statement on Wednesday. 

The statement added, “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.

“Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all involved.”

It would be Meghan’s first public appearance since she missed the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla earlier this month, to stay at home in America with her and Harry’s two children.

Both Harry, Meghan and Ragland had been at the Ms Foundation for Women’s 50th-anniversary gala event which honoured “game-changing” grantee partners and visionary leaders committed to the organisation’s mission of “advancing collective power and creating safe, just and equitable futures for women, girls, and gender-expansive people”.

At the event, Meghan received the Ms Foundation’s Women of Vision Award, recognising her “global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls”.

She was presented with the award by renowned journalist and feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

However, it was gathered that the trio were staying at a private residence and did not want to compromise the security of their friend’s home.

Recall that Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in a high-speed chase in 1997, after trying to flee the paparazzi who had been following her while she drove through Paris.

An investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police had found that Diana’s driver was intoxicated and trying to evade paparazzi photographers before the crash. 

The Duke of Sussex wrote about his mother’s death in his bestselling memoir Spare and how he struggled with his grief following her death.

Before attending the 2007 Rugby World Cup semi-final in Paris when he was 23 years old, Harry asked the driver of his car to go through the tunnel where his mother was tragically killed.