Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Were Sent a Racist Threat

dubbo, australia october 17 prince harry, duke of sussex and meghan, duchess of sussex visit a local farming family, the woodleys, on october 17, 2018 in dubbo, australia the duke and duchess of sussex are on their official 16 day autumn tour visiting cities in australia, fiji, tonga and new zealand photo by chris jackson poolgetty images

(Image credit: Karwai Tang)

last updated 30 September 2021

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry (opens in new tab) were sent a racist letter containing an "unidentified white powder" a few months before their wedding, according to the newly published Sussex biography Finding Freedom (opens in new tab).
The letter was intercepted by their security team, and the powder "turned out to be harmless."
Unsurprisingly, the letter terrified the couple, and Meghan couldn't sleep that night.
Meghan and Harry "received an unusually high number of threats," authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand write, forcing Meghan to undergo intensive security training.

This is an absolutely horrifying insight into Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's lives: According to royal biographers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, in new book Finding Freedom, Meghan and Harry were sent a racist letter containing an "unidentified white powder," which was intercepted by their security team as the couple traveled to Scotland a few months before their wedding. The letter was filled with "racist musings," Scobie and Durand write, as quoted (opens in new tab) by the Independent, though the powder thankfully turned out to be harmless. Meghan and Harry were terrified, unsurprisingly, with Meghan struggling to sleep that night.

Finding Freedom

In fact, Meghan and Harry "received an unusually high number of threats," forcing Meghan to undergo intensive security training before the royal wedding—unlike Kate Middleton, who didn't receive the training until after she married Prince William. And the whole thing sounds absolutely harrowing: security experts taught Meghan what to do should she be kidnapped, and advised her on how to "develop a relationship with the enemy." What's more, she had to learn "how to drive a car while in pursuit," Scobie and Durand write.

As you might imagine, while the future Duchess of Sussex was "grateful" to receive the security training, the whole experience was deeply unsettling for Meghan, who found it "extremely intense and scary." So awful!

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.