Duchess of Sussex to make first public appearance since father’s arrest in US

The Duchess of Sussex will join the Duke of Sussex in Brussels for an event about online child safety, but will no longer deliver a speech because she is “not strong enough” following her father’s arrest.

Harry and Meghan had both been due to deliver the keynote address to the European Parliament 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.

He appeared in court in the US on Friday, charged with possessing child sexual abuse images.

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 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-chairman of the Child Rights Intergroup.

Harry and Meghan still plan to travel together to Brussels (Jonathan Brady/PA)

PA Archive

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.

Harry and Meghan previously unveiled the temporary Lost Memorial installation in New York City in 2025.

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.

Harry and Meghan settled back in the UK at the end of August (Joe Giddens/PA)

PA Wire

He is charged with one count of possession of child pornography and is subject to home detention and electronic tagging following his release on bail after his court appearance on Friday.

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

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.