Prince Harry is currently suing the British government and the Met Police over their refusal to provide his family with security when the Sussexes are in the UK. Harry has repeatedly offered to pay the security costs back to the police, but they refuse. The Daily Mail and several royal commentators have taken the position that Harry is “arrogant” for wanting armed police protection of his family during visits, and that security should follow rank and not threat. It’s all been extremely idiotic and one of the most aggravating examples of how the British media gaslights the Sussexes. The media gaslighters would have people believe that Harry and Meghan are being “above their station” (meaning “uppity”) for believing that they face horrendous security threats in the UK. Well, the former assistant commissioner for the Met Police now says that Meghan was targeted directly by right-wing racists:
Meghan Markle’s life in London wasn’t exactly a fairytale. In a new interview with Channel 4 News, the former head of counterterrorism for the Metropolitan Police said that there were genuine threats to the Duchess of Sussex’s life while she lived in the U.K.
Neil Basu opened up about the alarming allegations amid his resignation as Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations for the Met Police in an interview released Tuesday. Basu, 54, is leaving the force after 30 years, during which he earned the Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished service and served as the senior-most officer for the counterterrorism unit of the Met Police starting in March 2018 — two months before Meghan and Prince Harry’s royal wedding.
“You were in charge of royal protection. How would you characterize the threats that Meghan and Harry received?” journalist Cathy Newman asked in a quick clip shared on Twitter.
“Well, disgusting and very real,” Basu replied, calling extreme right-wing terrorism the “fast-growing threat” to the country.
“But there were many serious, credible threats against Meghan, were there? Emanating from the far-right?” Newman chimed in.
“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,” he replied.
When asked if the Duchess of Sussex’s life was genuinely threatened more than once, Basu had a frightening reply. “Absolutely. We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats,” he said.
Basu was the senior-most officer of color in the Met Police and said elsewhere in the Channel 4 interview that he was turned down from running the National Crime Agency because of his outspoken views on diversity and inclusion, The Guardian reported.
I believe it, and over the years, there have been legitimate reports about various charges and criminal trials for people who made credible threats against the Sussexes and even plotted to do violent harm to Harry and Meghan. The online hate is likely only a drop in the bucket of the real-world danger for the Sussexes. And remember this too – even with all of these credible threats against Harry and Meghan (mostly Meghan), the Met Police and the Windsors still didn’t give royal protection to Archie. Also remember that even with years of steadily increased hatred and racist abuse towards the Sussexes, the Windsors and the British government still signed off on pulling the Sussexes’ protection suddenly in March 2020.
“There were many serious, credible threats against Meghan Markle emanating from the far-right?”
“Absolutely.”
Former head of counter terrorism for the Met Police, Neil Basu, tells @cathynewman about the “disgusting and very real” threats Prince Harry and Meghan Markle faced. pic.twitter.com/JPqfBFaCDO
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) November 29, 2022
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