Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Demand Photo Agency Give Them Footage of 'Chase'

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are trying to put the squeeze on a photo agency that claimed their freelance paparazzi who followed the couple Tuesday night were not, as M&H claimed, "highly aggressive" and didn't cause a near-collision.

Harry and Meghan's legal team fired off a letter to the Backgrid photo agency, claiming in part they need the agency's footage of the "chase" to shore up their own security, adding ... "We hereby demand that Backgrid immediately provide us with copies of all photos, videos, and/or films taken last night by the freelance photographers after the couple left their event and over the next several hours."

Backgrid's lawyer has rejected the Sussex's demand, saying in a letter ... "In America, as I'm sure you know, property belongs to the owner of it: Third parties cannot just demand it be given to them, as perhaps Kings can do. Perhaps you should sit down with your client and advise them that his English rules of royal prerogative to demand that the citizenry hand over their property to the Crown were rejected by this country long ago. We stand by our founding fathers."

Backgrid says they had 4 photogs, 3 in cars and one on a bike, adding they "had no intention of causing any distress or harm, as their only tool was their cameras."

There's no legal basis for Backgrid to turn over its footage -- no lawsuit has been filed that would require the agency to turn over documents. Nevertheless, the demand was made.

As we reported, Harry and Meghan's team called their encounter with paps "near catastrophic," but NYPD sources say that's way overblown.