Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby© Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

This Morning stars debate Prince Harry and Meghan's car incident: 'It's not good enough'

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield discussed the incident with their guests

TV & Film Editor
May 18, 2023

This Morning stars discussed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's difficult car journey on Tuesday evening, with Holly Willoughby admitting that she thought the situation was "horrible", while guest Nick Ferrari suggested that their security team wasn't good enough.

Speaking about the situation, where a spokesperson for the couple said that they had a "near catastrophic car chase" after being pursued by paparazzi, Holly said: "The problem is here there seems to be a different side of this story from the New York Police department."

WATCH: This Morning stars discuss Harry and Meghan’s car incident

Their guest, presenter Sonia Sodha, said: "The story has moved very quickly to, 'who is right about this. Was their spokesperson exaggerating when they said it was two hours and there was near collisions?'

"But that takes us away from what we should be thinking about with this story, given what happened to Diana, Harry's mother, and how she died… for him still to be caught up in paparazzi chases… I can't imagine how that might feel so I think we have to be careful about criticizing them for exaggerating… The trauma that must bring up."

Meghan and Prince Harry attended the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards together

Phillip agreed, saying: "So triggering, so triggering. If you read his book you can see. Virtually every chapter, it goes into great depth about that."  

Nick Ferrari also joined the show, and criticized Harry and Meghan's security team and the NYPD for putting the couple into a yellow cab during the incident.

© REX

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby discussed the incident

He explained: "I'm reminded of the words of the late great Queen Elizabeth II, 'Recollections may vary.' We might have that here. You're right, we've looked at this quite closely this morning… The key here is we have a young man who – I would say wrongly – started talking about his very brave service in Afghanistan. That means potentially he is a target, we must be aware of that and he's a man who needs protection.

© Getty

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry released a statement about paparazzis

"How we've allowed a situation where someone so important in the world perspective has a security team who thinks it's a good idea at one point to get him and his wife out, take them to a police precinct, for the police to call them a taxi… we're talking about one of the most identifiable couples in the world. Frankly, it's not good enough… they deserve, and they need, better."

MORE: Phillip Schofield's feuds over the years: Eamonn Holmes, Amanda Holden, Fern Britton 

MORE: Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: a timeline of their alleged fallout

The couple's full statement read: "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.  

© Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock

Nick Ferrari said the situation wasn't good enough

"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."

The NYPD's statement read: "The NYPD assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. 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."

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