“Not emotionally strong enough” – Duchess Meghan cancels speech in EU Parliament

Duchess Meghan (45) will not speak in the EU Parliament on Tuesday as planned. Prince Harry's wife (42) will be present, a spokesman for the couple told the German Press Agency upon request.

The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph had previously quoted an unnamed source close to the couple as saying that Meghan was “not emotionally strong enough at the moment” to speak in public.

Instead, only Harry will speak. The background is likely to be the serious allegations against her father Thomas Markle.

Harry and Meghan are expected to be guest speakers at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday. It's supposed to be about the dangers for young people on social media. Harry and Meghan had been taking up the issue for a long time.

The Duchess of Sussex, as Meghan is also called, is currently having to deal with dramatic developments in her family. Her father was arrested in the USA last week. The 82-year-old is accused of possessing child pornographic material. Investigations were also launched against him in the Philippines, where he lived for a time. He denied the allegations.

According to court documents, the FBI received a tip from a witness about a storage unit Markle was renting in the Los Angeles area. It later emerged that Markle had been renting two storage units since 2008. The payments for this would be automatically deducted from his account - he had made them last month, it was said.

Special forces examined the rooms and took 78 items into custody, including images and books related to allegedly abused minors. In at least two pictures, which are described in more detail in the court documents, Markle herself is said to be seen with a naked underage girl. There should be other similar pictures.

Harry and Meghan returned to Great Britain with their children Prince Archie (7) and Princess Lilibet (5) at the end of August after living in the US state of California for several years. Meghan was shocked by the allegations and expressed sympathy for the alleged victims. She also indicated that the rift with her father, which has been going on for years, has something to do with the serious allegations.

dpa/doli