The taxi driver who was tapped to help Prince Harry and Meghan Markel avoid paparazzi in what they described as a “near catastrophic” car chase said the couple “looked nervous” — and that the incident “was pretty crazy.”
Sonny Singh, 37, told The Post he was flagged down by cops with the NYPD’s 19th precinct on East 67th Street Tuesday night when Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, ran to the station after a slew of dogged photographers kept following the high-profile couple.
Singh, who was unaware of the situation, said that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — along with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland — were silent in the back of his car as a member of their security detail asked him to take them away.
“They seemed like nice people but they didn’t really say anything,” Singh said of Harry and Meghan. “They didn’t seem that scared but they looked nervous.”
The cabbie said that six paparazzi suddenly “came out of nowhere” around the taxi, flashing photos at the vehicle.
Although startled, Singh said “it wasn’t scary.”
In his brief drive with the couple, which only lasted about 10 minutes, Singh said two vehicles pursued them as they drove west to Park Avenue before heading south.
“They kept following us and were coming next to the car,” he told the Washington Post, recalling one vehicle as a black Honda Accord and the other as an older gray Honda CR-V. “They took pictures as we stopped and were filming us.”
Only a few minutes into the ride, Singh said he was instructed to turn around and go back to the police precinct over fears that the paparazzi would continue following them and reveal their location.
“I never felt like I was in danger. It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie,” Singh said. “They were quiet and seemed scared but it’s New York — it’s safe.”
Singh’s story downplays the statement from Harry and Meghan’s spokesperson, who issued a a scathing statement alleging that they were pursued by “highly aggressive paparazzi” for over two hours after the Women of Vision Awards at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, in Midtown.
The spokesperson also claimed the entire chase went on for more than two hours, however, NYPD sources told The Post that the incident was “definitely not” two-hours long.
“On Tuesday evening, May 16, the NYPD assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” an NYPD spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.
“There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in regard.”