Meghan Markle, wife of Prince Harry, received “despicable” death threats when she and her husband were still working members of the British royal family, a senior police official has claimed.
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Neil Basu, a senior outgoing London police officer, said he had to deal with credible death threats against “Sussex” from far-right activists when he was counter-terrorism police chief.
The police officer’s claims in an interview aired on Channel 4 on Tuesday night come as Prince Harry has regularly expressed fears for his family’s safety when they lived in the UK.
Meghan, an American actress of mixed race, and Harry, the youngest son of King Charles III, decided to distance themselves from the royal family and moved to the United States in 2020. During a stunning interview in March 2021, the couple made allegations of racism and callousness against the royal family.
Mr Basu, who is leaving London Police after 30 years of service, described the threats the couple had received as “despicable and genuinely real”.
“We had investigative teams, people were prosecuted for these threats,” he added.
Harry, 38, has sued the UK government for police protection as the family moves to the UK.
By ceasing to be working members of the royal family, Harry and Meghan lost the protections afforded them by law enforcement at taxpayer expense. Harry has offered to pay the costs and is challenging the Home Office’s refusal in court.
In addition, Neil Basu, who is of Indian origin, denounced the “terrible” rhetoric surrounding the immigration of certain conservative figures, even of foreign origin.
For example, the far-right British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, of Indian origin, spoke of a migratory “invasion” or expressed her “dream” of seeing asylum seekers who entered the UK illegally deported back to Rwanda.
For Mr. Basu, this speech is “inexplicable”. “It’s amazing to hear powerful politicians speak a language that would bring back memories of my father in 1968,” he said, referring to a speech by Tory MP Enoch Powell about a so-called race war in Britain over immigration.