Meghan Markle has faced “disgusting” threats to her life during her time with the royal family, the UK’s most senior black police officer has said.
Neil Basu said as head of the counter-terrorism unit he faced credible threats from far-right extremists against Meghan Markle and her husband Prince Harry.
His comments in an interview with Channel 4 News broadcast on Tuesday appeared to support Harry’s claims about security concerns.
Meghan, a former mixed-race television actress, married the youngest son of King Charles III in 2018, but in 2020, they retired from royal life and moved to the United States.
Basu, 54, who retired after 30 years with London’s Metropolitan Police, was asked if there were any real threats to Meghan’s life.
“Absolutely,” he replied, calling the threats “disgusting and very real.”
“We had teams investigating them. People were held accountable for these threats.”
Harry, 38, is suing the UK government to force a review of the decision to withdraw his state-funded protection when he returns to the country from the US.
Early in their relationship, Harry took the rare step of publicly criticizing the tone of some media reports about Meghan. He condemned “the racial undertones of the comments and the blatant sexism and racism of social media trolls and Internet article comments.”
The couple also accused the royal family themselves of racism in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
