Meghan faced 'disgusting' threats to her life as a royal, says senior UK police officer

In a shocking revelation, UK's most senior police officer of colour has said Meghan Markle faced "disgusting" threats to her life during her time in the royal family. In an interview with Channel 4 News, Neil Basu seemed to reiterate Harry's security fears when he told the channel that as head of counter-terrorism, he had to deal with credible threats from far-right extremists against Meghan Markle and her husband Prince Harry.

Meghan married Prince Harry in 2018 and the two quit royal life in 2020 and moved to the United States.

Basu, 54, is retiring from his duties after spending 30 years with London's Metropolitan Police. When asked if there were genuine threats to Meghan's life, he said, "Absolutely".

"We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats."

Notably, Harry had taken the UK government to court for pulling his state-funded protection when he was back in the country from the United States.

Harry has been critical of some media coverage, social media trolls and web comments for being sexist and racist towards Meghan. The couple later went on to accuse the royal family of racism, in a 2021 television interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Basu, who belongs to an Indian heritage, also attacked senior Conservative politicians of Asian heritage for their "horrific" rhetoric about migrants.

He called out Home Secretary Suella Braverman for using "inexplicable" language while referring to migrants. She had described Albanian asylum seekers as "criminals" and backed a controversial government scheme to deport failed asylum seekers to Rwanda.

"It is unbelievable to hear a succession of very powerful politicians who look like this talking in language that my father would have remembered from 1968. It's horrific," he said.

"I was born in 1968. The 'rivers of blood' speech happened in the constituency next to where my parents lived and made their life hell. A mixed-race couple walking through the streets in the 1960s. Stoned," he said.

"I speak about race because I know something about race because I'm a 54-year-old mixed race man."

He acknowledged that his willingness to speak out about race issues may have played a role in keeping him away from the post of head of the National Crime Agency.

(With inputs from agencies)

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