Meghan joins Harry in Brussels as duke says children must always ‘feel safe’

The Duke of Sussex has said children “deserve to feel safe wherever they are” as the Duchess of Sussex made her first public appearance since her father’s arrest for possession of child abuse images.

Harry took to the podium at the European Parliament in Brussels to deliver a solo keynote address after Meghan pulled out of speaking alongside him because she was not “strong enough emotionally”.

It was the first time Meghan had been seen in public since allegations surrounding Thomas Markle Sr surfaced last month and since he appeared in court on Friday charged with possession of child sexual abuse material.

Meghan listens at the event in the European Parliament (Nicolas Tucat/PA)

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The duchess held Harry’s hand tightly during her arrival at the Paul-Henri Spaak building, and ignored shouts from the media of “Meghan, how are you feeling? How are you coping?”.

Meghan, sat in the front row, listened intently during her husband’s speech, and afterwards placed her hand on Harry’s arm.

The duchess also hugged and comforted Sandra Spitaels, a Belgian mother whose 15-year-old son Glenn died by suicide in 2017 after a nude image of him was posted online, after Ms Spitaels broke down in tears while delivering a speech about Glenn’s experience.

Ms Spitaels stumbled over her words as emotion overcame her, telling the audience: “Glenn felt completely hopeless.”

After the speech, Meghan, who had been holding Harry’s hand as she listened, rose to hug her.

The duchess comforts Sandra Spitaels whose teenage son Glenn died by suicide in 2017 after a nude image of him was posted online (Nicolas Tucat/PA)

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As they later toured the Lost Screen Memorial featuring large-scale representations of mobile phone screens showing the faces of 50 children who have died from harm caused by social media, the duchess placed her hand on Ms Spitaels’ back, occasionally rubbing it as they spoke afterwards, with Harry appearing to ask Ms Spitaels: “Are you OK?”

Harry told the parliament he was there as a “father” and Meghan “as a mother” to support parents who had lost children to online harm.

“I’m not here as an expert or a politician. I’m here as a father. My wife, as a mother,” he said.

“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.”

Harry and Meghan held hands as they arrived for the duchess’s first public appearance since her father’s arrest (Nicolas Tucat/PA)

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Harry’s speech did not directly reference Markle Sr, but he spoke about protecting children online and stressed the importance of prevention, and said they should feel safe whether in a classroom or a playground and “at any time, no matter where they are”.

The duke said: “Why, when we ask whether it can keep a child safe, does everything suddenly become complicated?

“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.

“All children should be able to go online and discover something wonderful. A friend. An interest that becomes a passion. A place where they feel understood.

The Duke of Sussex delivers a keynote speech at the opening of the Lost Screen Memorial at the European Parliament in Brussels (Nicolas Tucat/PA)

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“They deserve to feel safe wherever they are. In a classroom. On a playground. At any time, no matter where they are.”

He added: “My approach to life, and to the value of it, has perhaps unsurprisingly always been about prevention.

“Preventing harm before it happens, rather than waiting for tragedy before deciding something must change.”

He warned of “letting danger creep into our homes”.

“When a platform can reach into a child’s bedroom, learn their vulnerabilities, earn their trust and influence their behaviour without a parent ever knowing, it is as if we are letting danger creep into our homes and consume their whole world,” the duke said.

Meghan with Sandra Spitaels (Nicolas Tucat/PA)

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He added: “No family should have to lose a child before the world decides to protect one.”

The duke later took part in a panel discussion called Beyond Promises: Building A Digital Future That Works For Children, but Meghan did not attend.

Harry appeared emotional as he directed his words towards social media companies, saying: “Don’t put anything in front of our children that you wouldn’t put in front of your own children.”

He made an impassioned plea for transparency, saying: “For many parents, even though their child killed themselves, they’ve had to wait years – in some instances, eight years – to get access to their child’s phone…

“Because of the company’s privacy policies, the parents were blocked from finding out how their child died. That cannot be right.”

Meghan listens to Harry speak (Nicolas Tucat/PA)

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The duke also listened to Lianna McDonald, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection who shared the stage with him, as she explained how her organisation issues up to 20,000 removal requests a day to technology companies for child sexual abuse material sitting on their services.

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 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.