Fans of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have registered their disgust over their “near catastrophic” paparazzi chase in New York City, boosting the hashtag “#LeavePrinceHarryandMeghanalone” to trending status Wednesday on Twitter.
The couple were pursued by “highly aggressive” photographers after leaving the New York City for the Ms. Foundation for Women’s Annual Gala at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan, according to a statement.
It evoked comparisons to the paparazzi car chase that claimed the life of Princess Diana, Harry’s mother, in 1997.
One Twitter user, whose bio includes the hashtag “#SussexSquad,” wrote,” I’ve lived in NYC for two decades. We don’t have Diana-level harassment paparazzi here at all. This is a coordinated hit squad that was out to set off a dire catastrophe for Harry, Meghan, and Doria. Whomever set this up deserves exposing.”
One person called the incident “chilling,” while another called the paparazzi “psychopaths.”
“Happy now? Is this what you want? For history to repeat itself? Just leave them the f— alone. You say you want Harry and Meghan to ‘disappear’, so why are the paps chasing them down for the money shot? Cos y’all keep buying the rags and lapping it up. For shame!,” an Irish Twitter user wrote.
While it’s not clear at this point who the photographers were working for, some on Twitter suspected it was for British tabloids The Daily Mail and The Express after noting that photos of the famous couple in a yellow taxi had been deleted from both sites. TheWrap has reached out to both publications for comment.