Meghan Markle makes first public appearance since father’s arrest

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, accompanied her husband Prince Harry to the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, making her first public appearance since her father was arrested in the United States on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, accompanied her husband Prince Harry to the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, making her first public appearance since her father was arrested in the United States on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material.

The couple attended the opening of the Lost Screen Memorial, an installation honouring children who have died after suffering harm online. Harry delivered a keynote address alone after Meghan withdrew from the planned joint speech.

A spokesperson for the duchess confirmed that she would accompany her husband to the event but would not speak.

A source told The Telegraph that Meghan was “not strong enough, emotionally, to be doing any public speaking right now”. The source’s account of her emotional state has not been independently confirmed.

Her father, Thomas Markle Sr, 82, was arrested in Florida on November 6 and charged with one count of possessing child pornography, according to the US Justice Department.

A federal criminal complaint alleges that he kept sexually explicit images involving minor girls in two storage units in the Los Angeles area. The FBI seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books, during searches of the units, the department said.

The complaint says investigators were alerted in October after a witness reported finding suspected child sexual abuse material among Markle’s belongings in the Philippines. Information provided by the witness helped investigators locate the storage units, according to the department.

The allegations have not been proven in court. Markle is presumed innocent unless convicted.