Prince Harry Says He's "Here as a Father" in Emotional Speech as Meghan Markle Cancels Her Involvement in Digital Safety Event

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were scheduled to make a joint keynote address at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium on November 10, but the Duke of Sussex spoke solo in the wake of Meghan’s father’s shocking arrest.

The Duchess of Sussex, dressed in a black wrap coat and vintage Christian Dior earrings, attended the event with Harry but did not deliver her planned speech or take part in a panel discussion about digital safety for young people. The couple traveled to Belgium to highlight the ongoing issue of children who are dying due to online bullying and other digital harm.

A source told the Telegraph that Meghan was “just not strong enough, emotionally, to be doing any public speaking right now” after her father, Thomas Markle Sr., was charged with one count of possession of child pornography last week.

In videos shared on social media, Meghan ignored reporters who about the case as she entered the European Parliament building Tuesday morning.

In his speech, the Duke of Sussex spoke about the importance of protecting children and supporting families who have lost kids to online harm, stating, "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 like Sandra, Megan and Sewell—in New York, Los Angeles, Geneva and now Brussels. Parents who never imagined they would have a reason to be in rooms like this."

The couple attended the opening of the Lost Screen Memorial in Brussels, an installation that shows photos of the phone lockscreens of young people who died by suicide after experiencing online harm.

He noted that he doesn't want his own kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, to live without online spaces, but stressed that more needs to be done to keep young people safe.

"Why, when we ask whether it can keep a child safe, does everything suddenly become complicated?" he said. "I am not asking for a world without technology. That isn't possible, it isn't what young people want and it certainly isn't what I want for my own children."

He mentioned the benefits of online communities such as friendship and "a place where they feel understood," but added that kids "deserve to feel safe wherever they are," including on the internet.

Harry did not reference his father-in-law's arrest during his keynote, but Meghan released a statement after her father was accused of possessing thousands of explicit images of children. “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 wrote.

The duchess explained that she was shown a letter that was sent to police in 2019 that "made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father" but had been assured that an investigation was being made into the claims. “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," Meghan added.