Meghan pulls out of Brussels child safety speech after father's arrest

The Duchess of Sussex has pulled out of making a joint speech with the Duke of Sussex because she is “not strong enough” after her father’s arrest.

Harry and Meghan had both been due to deliver the keynote address on child safety to the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday.

The duchess will still join Harry at the event, but has decided not to speak after Thomas Markle Sr appeared in court on Friday charged with possession of child abuse material.

“She’s just not strong enough, emotionally, to be doing any public speaking right now,” a source told The Telegraph.

The event will be the first time Meghan will have been seen in public since the allegations surrounding Markle Sr.

During the 82-year-old’s court appearance, travel restrictions were imposed by the judge on the Duchess of Sussex’s father, who did not enter a plea at the hearing in Tampa, Florida.

He has been bailed and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric exam, amid concerns he may not be unable to understand the proceedings or properly assist his lawyer.

A future court appearance in California is not due for at least several weeks, according to the US justice department.

Harry’s now-solo speech will take place at the opening of the Lost Screen Memorial, an art installation honouring children who have died after being subjected to harm online.

A spokesperson for the duchess confirmed: “The duchess is travelling with the duke to Brussels and will accompany him to the event but will not speak.”

It is understood that Harry’s speech will not touch on Markle Sr’s arrest.

The brief trip abroad will see Harry and Meghan, who returned to the UK in August, listen to addresses by European Parliament president Roberta Metsola and MEP Antonio Lopez-Isturiz, the first vice-chair of the Child Rights Intergroup.

The couple were due to have between 15 and 20 minutes between them for a rare dual-address to speak about the importance of children’s digital safety, but this task will now be taken on by Harry.

They will also be shown the memorial exhibition which features smartphone-shaped light-boxes each displaying a lock screen photograph of a child or young person who died due to online harm.

The duke will later join a panel discussion called Beyond Promises: Building A Digital Future That Works For Children to discuss how to protect children online.

Questions will be permitted from the audience, but not the media.

Markle Sr, 82, was arrested by FBI agents after they seized a haul of material from two Los Angeles storage units he rented for nearly two decades.

He came under investigation after he was reported to police in the Philippines and the FBI in October by his son, Thomas Markle Jr, who allegedly found illegal images in his father’s belongings in Cebu City.

Mr Markle Jr was named as a “person of interest” by a Philippines government minister, but it was later reported that the matter had been cleared up and that police had apologised to Mr Markle Jr.

Meghan said she was “deeply distressed” at the allegations surrounding her father, from whom she has been estranged since the run-up to her 2018 wedding.