Prince Harry makes first comments since father-in-law’s arrest, says kids ‘deserve to feel safe’
Prince Harry at Brussels’ opening of the Lost Screen MemorialCredit: Pool/ShutterstockKey Points
Prince Harry spoke out about children’s safety in his first comments since father-in-law Thomas Markle Sr.’s arrest.
Meghan Markle sat front row at the European Parliament as Harry shared that children “deserve to feel safe wherever they are.”
The couple was in Brussels to attend the installation of the Lost Screen Memorial on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Prince Harry spoke about the importance of children’s safety online in his first comments since his father-in-law’s arrest on possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, attended the latest installment of the Lost Screen Memorial in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday, Nov. 10, as he addressed attendees at the European Parliament. The installation, which honors children who lost their lives due to the harms of social media, was created in collaboration with the royal couple’s The Archewell Foundation Parents’ Network and has been on display in cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Geneva.
The Brussels showing comes four days after Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle Sr., was arrested and charged with one count of possession of child pornography after CSAM was found in two L.A.-area storage units, according to a news release from the FBI. If convicted, the 82-year-old faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
Although she was scheduled to speak alongside Harry at the event on Tuesday, Meghan opted out ahead of the memorial.
Harry took to the stage as Meghan sat in the front row in an all-black ensemble. According to PEOPLE, he posed the question: “How did we reach a point where we can build technology capable of extraordinary things, yet still struggle to make it safe for a child?”
Harry continued, “I’m not here as an expert or a politician. I’m here as a father. My wife, as a mother. And together, as a couple who stand alongside parents ... who never imagined they would have a reason to be in rooms like this.”
The Duke of Sussex went on to say that technology allows us to be “ambitious” in terms of “education” and “disease,” but “why, when we ask whether it can keep a child safe, does everything suddenly become complicated?”
Noting that a world without technology is impossible, Harry insisted that the goal should then at least be to keep young people out of harm’s way, always.
“All children should be able to go online and discover something wonderful. A friend. An interest that becomes a passion. A place where they feel understood,” he said, adding, “They deserve to feel safe wherever they are. In a classroom. On a playground. At any time, no matter where they are.”
Harry and Meghan have long campaigned for the safety of young people online, as well as for holding technology companies accountable for the impact their platforms have on young users around the globe. On Tuesday, Harry spoke of working together to ensure “progress [in Europe] does not leave children elsewhere exposed to the same risks.”
“A child’s safety should never depend on which country they call home,” he stated.
As Meghan looked on, Harry concluded, “Let’s take tech’s offer to build a world beyond our dreams but all agree at a minimum in that world our kids would be safe. And no family should have to lose a child before the world decides to protect one.”
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive at the opening of the Lost Screen MemorialCredit: Andreas Rentz/Getty
Harry’s comments come days after Markle Sr. was taken into custody near Tampa after the FBI said it found 78 items that contained suspected CSAM, including alleged slides, film negatives, and books, in storage units. He was previously accused of possessing a “huge stash” of CSAM following an investigation by The Sun, published on Oct. 22. The Sun reported that his son, Thomas Markle Jr., discovered the materials and reported them to the FBI Hotline, the U.S.-based National Center for Exploited and Missing Children, and state police. Markle Sr. has denied the accusations against him.
In a statement on the allegations, the Duchess of Sussex told Entertainment Weekly: “I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed.”
She continued, “In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated. I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them,” she said. “I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.”
Meghan and Harry’s appearance in Brussels is their first joint trip abroad since relocating to the U.K. with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5.
In August, the couple announced that they were leaving California — where they lived for six years after stepping back as working members of the royal family in 2020 — and moving to Britain for an extended period. That same month, the family arrived back in Harry’s home country, and Archie and Lilibet started school weeks later.
“Being able to put the kids in a British school has meant a lot to me. I didn’t know how important it was to me,” Harry told GQ in October. “I always thought it was gonna be something that I would try and do or that we would try and do, but now they’ve been in school for two weeks. They’re loving it, and it’s just giving them a whole different experience.”
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Harry also noted that it was important to be “back closer to my family and to be back on U.K. soil for longer than a few days or a week here or there.”
“[It] provided real, proper, serious thinking as to, ‘This is an opportunity, let’s do it now,’” he shared.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
Source: Entertainment
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