Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Called 'Cheap' For Skipping Hotel After Carlyle Allegedly Refused Discount

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were involved in a car chase with paparazzi because they didn't stay at a hotel during their recent trip to New York City, reports have claimed.

Unnamed law enforcement sources told the New York Post's Page Six that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stayed at a friend's house on the Upper East Side during their visit to New York City this week after they were allegedly refused a discounted room at a hotel. International Business Times could not independently verify this information.

Ahead of their trip, Markle and Prince Harry allegedly asked the Carlyle, his mother Princess Diana's favorite hotel, to give them a room at a discounted price, but the hotel's bosses allegedly refused, the law enforcement sources claimed.

As they were staying at a private residence, the sources claimed Prince Harry and Markle didn't want to lead photographers to their friend's home when they were pursued by numerous paparazzi after leaving Manhattan's Ziegfeld Theater Tuesday night.

Due to this, the duke and duchess were involved in what their spokesperson described as a "near-catastrophic car chase" with "highly aggressive" paparazzi that lasted "over two hours."

"They should have just gotten a hotel for the safety of everyone. Instead, they were cheap and wanted a free place to stay," one New York City law enforcement source told the outlet. "Harry and Meghan's people called the Carlyle ahead of the trip and asked for a discounted room, and the hotel said no."

"If they had just paid up and got a hotel in the first place, this supposed 'dangerous' paparazzi chase around town would never have happened. They would have been driven back to the Carlyle, been photographed going inside and that would have been the end of it," the source claimed.

The duke and duchess have stayed at the Carlyle, where room prices range from $1,240 to $6,000 a night, in the past. They previously checked into the hotel during a trip to New York City in 2021.

Security expert Mark Selden also suggested that Prince Harry and Markle could have avoided security troubles had they stayed at a nearby hotel instead of a private residence.

"There is security, doorman, porters and staff," the AllStar Security president told Fox News Digital of why the couple would have benefited from spending the night at a hotel. "You have built-in safety. If anyone breaks in, you have your own security based on your own floor, standing outside your door or situated in the rooms next door to you or across the hall. You are essentially in a fortress."

Selden, who has spent 20 years providing professional security to wealthy clients in Manhattan, added, "You cannot have the same security staying in a residential townhouse."

Markle and Prince Harry claimed they were chased by photographers in a "relentless" pursuit after leaving the 2023 Women of Vision Awards, where the former "Suits" star was honored for her advocacy work Tuesday night.

However, some have expressed doubt over their claims of being involved in a car chase in New York City, including netizens and celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg.

"Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were followed by paparazzi while leaving the Ziegfeld Theatre. Their spokesperson called it a 'near-catastrophic car chase,'" Goldberg said on Thursday's "The View." "Others said it wasn't bad, but I think people in New York know if it was possible to have car chases in New York, we'd all make it to the theater on time."

She added, "We're dealing with aggressive paparazzi. It just doesn't work in New York."

Her co-host Sunny Hostin, however, defended the Sussexes, noting that the couple never claimed it was a "high-speed" car chase. "If they felt scared, I will grant them that," she added.