Prince Harry Said His New York Car Chase Was the "Closest" He'd Come to Understanding Princess Diana's Death

Just a few days after Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, shared that they'd been involved in a paparazzi car chase through Manhattan, friends close to the Duke of Sussex revealed that he's opening up about the ordeal, saying that it's the "closest" that he's come to understanding how his mother, Princess Diana, died.

According to The Times, Harry told friends that it was the "closest I have ever felt" to his mother's tragic death back in 1997. This follows insight included in his memoir, Spare, which explained that in order to find closure after the death of his mother, Harry requested to be driven through the Paris tunnel where her accident occurred over and over again. People notes that one of the major themes of his book was grief and healing.

During a 2022 interview, senior police officer David Douglas — a key figure in the investigation launched to find more information about Diana's death — said that the princess's death was a "terrible, tragic accident."

"When you look at most incidents, accidents, you find there's a chain of events, and if any one of those chain of events had been different, it might not have led to that happening," Douglas said, noting that Diana wasn't wearing a seatbelt, the paparazzi were making for dangerous conditions, and her driver was intoxicated. "For example, if they'd been wearing seatbelts, our experts tell us it was probably an 80% chance that they would have survived the accident."

In a statement released Wednesday, Harry and Meghan's team described the car chase after the duchess attended the Ms. Foundation gala.

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