Meghan ‘Not Strong Enough’ to Deliver Brussels Speech
The Duchess of Sussex has pulled out of a joint keynote with Prince Harry at the European Parliament in Brussels on online child safety. A source says she is not emotionally strong enough after her father's arrest. She will still attend; Harry will speak alone.
The Duchess of Sussex has pulled out of a joint speech with the Duke of Sussex at the European Parliament in Brussels, because she is "not strong enough" to speak after her father's arrest. The couple were due to deliver a keynote address on online child safety.
Meghan will still travel with Harry and attend the event. She will not speak.
What her spokesperson said
A spokesperson for the duchess confirmed the change. "The duchess is travelling with the duke to Brussels and will accompany him to the event but will not speak," the spokesperson said.
A source went further. "She's just not strong enough, emotionally, to be doing any public speaking right now," the source said.
It will be the first time Meghan has been seen in public since the allegations surrounding her father, Thomas Markle Sr. Harry's speech is understood not to touch on the arrest.
The Brussels event
Harry and Meghan were due to share 15 to 20 minutes for a rare dual address on children's digital safety. Harry will now take on that task alone.
His speech opens the Lost Screen Memorial, an art installation honoring children who have died after being subjected to harm online. It features smartphone-shaped light-boxes, each showing the lock screen photograph of a child or young person who died due to online harm.
The couple previously unveiled the temporary installation in New York City in 2025. In Brussels they will hear addresses from European Parliament president Roberta Metsola and MEP Antonio Lopez-Isturiz, first vice-chair of the Child Rights Intergroup.
Harry will later join a panel called Beyond Promises: Building A Digital Future That Works For Children. Questions will be allowed from the audience but not from the media.
The trip is brief. Harry and Meghan returned to the UK in August.
The case against Markle Sr
Markle Sr, 82, appeared in a US court charged with one count of possession of child pornography. FBI agents arrested him after seizing material from two Los Angeles storage units he had rented for nearly two decades.
He was released on bail and is subject to home detention and electronic tagging. He is charged, not convicted.
The investigation began after his son, Thomas Markle Jr, reported him last month to police in the Philippines and to the FBI. Markle Jr allegedly found illegal images in his father's belongings in Cebu City.
A Philippines government minister named Markle Jr a "person of interest". It was later reported that the matter had been cleared up and that police had apologised to him.
Meghan's earlier statement
Meghan has said she was "deeply distressed" by the allegations. She has been estranged from her father since the run-up to her 2018 wedding.
She said a letter reached her in 2019 through the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. It made "troubling and disturbing allegations" about Markle Sr, and she was assured they were being investigated.
The Met has admitted it never shared the details with other law enforcement agencies. The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, is now investigating the force's conduct.
Sources said the duchess wanted to "speak out" straight after reading the letter, but police advised her against it.
