Meghan Markle initially sought full control over paparazzi images of herself and her husband, Prince Harry, that were released to the media following their trans-Atlantic move to the US, a veteran photographer has claimed.
Californian paparazzo Mark Karloff, who has been in the business for 17 years, said that while public interest in the couple was off the charts in 2020, the current demand for snaps of the Sussexes is at an all-time low.
“When Harry and Meghan first came here, it was a mad scramble to find where they were staying, where they were going to be living, and it was every photographer in LA trying to find out every secret,” Karloff said.
“At the same time, they were running around doing mock photo ops, they were doing setups, they would pop up and be doing some charity work, and I think it was their photographers, so everyone was very frustrated.”
Karloff, who hosts the “Paparazzi Podcast,” said the initial period after the Sussexes hightailed it across the pond and set up camp in the US came with an intense pursuit by photographers eager to uncover their new life in California.
“I shot them at a couple of events when they first arrived, and then I decided it was too much for me, the craziness of that kind of photo, I stay away from because it’s not exclusive, and they don’t make as much money,” the seasoned snapper told Techreport.
But Karloff noted that public interest in the couple has significantly decreased in recent years, resulting in a reduced demand for their photographs.
“In the US, and in my experience, it has died down a lot. Now they aren’t worth the hassle, and the payday isn’t the same; people don’t care as much as they used to,” the pap said.
“Ultimately, they can’t hide forever, so there are opportunities to get them, but I think they want control, Meghan especially.”
Nowadays, “photographers wait for an opportunity to get them instead of actively trying to get them,” he adds.
Additionally, an insider told The Post that the couple — who tied the knot in 2018 — engaged in staged photo ops in Los Angeles and the surrounding area, often with their own photographer present.
The Post has reached out to reps for the Sussexes for comment.
Karloff, 48, previously revealed that the first clear picture of the Sussexes in their plush Montecito, Calif., pad was expected to have a price tag of $100,000.
He said that when Covid restrictions were lifted, and people got used to the fact that the pair had relocated to the Golden State, it was always “going to be a little bit of a frenzy to get them.”
“They are going to be hounded every single day, at least for the first few months,” he said in 2020. “They’re not going to be able to go out without being photographed.”
The couple were famously caught up in a so-called “near catastrophic” paparazzi car chase through Manhattan in May 2023.
The duo found themselves at the center of a high-speed pursuit after leaving the Ziegfeld Theatre in Midtown with Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, following an event.
However, law enforcement sources later described a much less dramatic ordeal, saying the chase only lasted about one hour as the family switched to a yellow cab to try to get the paps off their trail.
The Sussexes ultimately didn’t file any charges over the incident, but the NYPD announced in 2023 that the pair will receive heightened security during future trips to the Big Apple.
Indeed, Markle last week arrived at the Majestic Theatre in Times Square for Broadway production of “Gypsy” in a four-vehicle motorcade, which was accompanied by an unmarked NYPD car.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
