Meghan Markle faced ‘very real & disgusting’ threats to her life while living in Britain, ex counter terror chief says

29 November 2022, 18:10

Meghan Markle faced "many credible threats" to her life while she lived in the UK, a former counter terrorism chief has revealed.

Neil Basu, who was the Met Police's Assistant Commissioner of Special Operations until last year, called the threats "disgusting" and "very real".

Asked if they were credible, he replied: "Absolutely, and 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."

Mr Basu said there had been threats to Ms Markle's more than once, adding: "We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats."

The revelation comes just days before the couple are set to release a Netflix doc about their "love story" while the Prince's bombshell memoir will hit shelves in January.

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Speaking as he prepares to leave the Met after 30 years, he also suggested his outspoken views on race had seen him blocked from becoming head of the National Crime Agency, demanded a crackdown on racist officers and slammed Home Secretary Suella Braverman for her controversial comments about how it was her "dream" to send migrants to Rwanda.

Mr Basu, who was Britain's most senior ethnic minority police officer told Channel 4 news that racism was still a problem in the police, and new Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley was "doing the right thing" by calling for more powers to sack officers.

Adding that he was proud to be woke, he said: "Are you alert to issues of racial and social justice? Yes I am.'And if that is the definition of woke, I'll wear it as a bumper sticker every day of the week."