Senior police officer reveals the "disgusting and very real" threats Meghan Markle received from far-right groups

(Image credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation/Future)

published 3 December 2022

The former head of UK counter-terror policing has revealed that police have investigated many “disgusting” and “very real” threats against Meghan Markle since her relationship with Prince Harry was made public in 2016.

A senior police officer has revealed that police have investigated many “disgusting” and “very real” threats from far-right extremists against Meghan Markle
He said there has been a genuine threat to Meghan’s life on multiple occasions, with people being prosecuted as a result.
The royal news follows the release of Prince Harry and Meghan's Netflix series trailer which shares an intimate glimpse into their life

Appearing on Channel 4 News, the former head of UK counter-terror policing has revealed that the police have investigated many “disgusting” and “very real” threats made against Meghan Markle.

Security has been a massive concern to Meghan and her husband Prince Harry since their relationship was announced in 2016. Since then, and particularly since stepping back as senior royals, there has “absolutely” been a genuine threat to Meghan’s life on multiple occasions, with the perpetrators being prosecuted as a result, said Neil Basu, an assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police.

Speaking to Channel 4 News, Mr Basu said, “If you’d seen the stuff that was written and you were receiving it … the kind of rhetoric that’s online, if you don’t know what I know, you would feel under threat all of the time. We had teams of people investigating it.”

One of the more dramatic threats against Meghan, which was investigated as a racist hate crime by police in 2018, saw her and Prince Harry sent a white powder, claimed to be anthrax, in a malicious hoax. Then, just a year later, two neo-Nazis were jailed after using the internet to brand Prince Harry a “race traitor” and promoted carrying out terror attacks on targets including Prince Harry.

Unfortunately, this racist rhetoric was nothing new for Mr Basu. He explained to Channel 4 News that extreme right-wing terrorism was the “fastest-growing” threat in the UK during his time as counter-terror chief. Threats from these groups rose from taking up 6% of officers' workload to 20% in the six years leading up to 2021.

Mr Basu's comments seem to reinforce Prince Harry's claims about the security fears that many speculate are keeping him and his family from returning to the UK. Harry took the UK government to court earlier this year to ask for a review of the decision to pull his state-funded protection when he was visiting the country from his new home in the United States.

Prince Harry won the latest stage of his court fight against the Home Office in the High Court. He now has the right to challenge whether the Home Office's decision about his level of protection was reasonable or not. No further action has yet been taken.

Related articles:

Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.