Meghan Markle faces ‘very real’ threats to her life, says former counterterrorism chief

The former head of Britain’s counter-terror department said police were investigating numerous “heinous and very real” threats against Meghan Markle.

Outgoing Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said the danger posed to the Duchess of Sussex would make her feel “constantly threatened”.

Basu confirmed that the threats came from the far right and they led to prosecutions.

The comments shed light on Prince Harrydisappointment over the decision not to let him pay for police protection for himself and his family when he is in the UK.

The Duke of Sussex, who stepped down as a senior member of the royal family in 2020, was given the right to challenge the Home Office in the High Court after he was told he would no longer be afforded the “same degree” of personal protection when visiting.

<strong>The Duchess of Sussex attends the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September.</strong>” width=”720″ height=”479″ src=”https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/63868f192600005e00292f03.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale”/></picture></div>
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The Duchess of Sussex attends the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September.

Karwai Tan via Getty Images

in interview to Channel 4 NewsBasu described the threats the couple faced as “disgusting and very real”.

He continued, “I have spoken publicly for many years about the threat of far-right terrorism in this country.”

Asked if there were serious and credible threats from the far right against Meghan, he replied: “Absolutely. If you saw what was written and got it, the kind of rhetoric that is on the net, if you didn’t know what I know, you would feel threatened all the time.”

When asked if there were real threats to Megan’s life, he replied: “Absolutely. We’ve had teams investigating this. People have been held accountable for these threats.”

The Sussexes are personally funding their family’s private advocacy group in the US.

Harry told Oprah Winfrey that the couple signed multi-million dollar deals with Netflix and Spotify to pay for security.

But he and Meghan have lost taxpayer-funded police protection in the UK after they resigned as senior members of the royal family.

Speaking to Winfrey during the couple’s 2021 sit-down interview, Harry said he was told “due to our change of status, we will no longer be ‘official’ members of the royal family.”

He said he was shocked by this and “pushed” the matter, claiming that the threat or risk to the couple had not changed.

Meghan, during the same interview, described how she wrote to her husband’s family urging them not to “violate his safety” but was told “it’s just not possible.”

According to his legal representative, the couple offered to pay for police protection in the UK themselves, rather than asking taxpayers to pay the bills.

In September 2021, he filed for judicial review of the Home Office’s decision not to allow him to personally pay for police protection for himself and his family while in the UK.

A government spokesman said at the time: “The UK government’s security system is strict and proportionate. It has been our longstanding policy not to provide details of these arrangements. This can compromise their integrity and affect the safety of individuals.

“It would also be inappropriate to comment on the details of any trial.”