Prince Harry spoke out about keeping children safe as he made an appearance alongside wife Meghan, who was seen for the first time since her father was charged with possesion of child abuse images
Prince Harry has said children deserve to feel safe “wherever they are” as the Duchess of Sussex was seen for the first time since her father’s arrest for possession of child abuse images.
The Sussexes attended the European Parliament in Brussels, where Harry delivered a keynote on keeping children safe online. Meghan had also been due to speak but pulled out of speaking with him as she was not emotionally “strong enough”. The speech was surrounding protecting children online and the importance of prevention. Harry told those gathered: “I’m not here as an expert or a politician. I’m here as a father. My wife, as a mother.”
He added: “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.
“They deserve to feel safe wherever they are. In a classroom. On a playground. At any time, no matter where they are.”
He also said: “If you take one thing from today, let it be the stories of the parents so we can all truly understand what is asked of us and what we must ask of technology in this moment.
“We rarely ask technology to be less ambitious. We’re told it will transform education. Cure disease. Solve problems we once thought impossible. Why should our ambition stop there?
“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.”
After speaking, the couple listened to a speech by Sandra Spitaels, whose 15-year-old son Glen died when he took his own life after an intimate photo of him was shared online. As she spoke Harry held her hand, and afterwards, Meghan got up and hugged her, asking her: “Are you OK?”
It comes after the couple had arrived earlier hand-in-hand and ignored questions from reporters about Thomas Markle Sr as they walked through the Parliament’s entrance hall.
The joint outing, and their first official trip overseas since their move back to the UK in August, comes just days after Meghan’s dad, Thomas Markle Sr was released on bail after appearing in a US court accused of possessing child sex abuse material.
He was arrested by FBI agents on Friday 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.
When allegations about her father, from whom she has been estranged since 2018, first surfaced last month, she said she was “deeply distressed”.
She revealed she was sent a letter via the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2019 which made “troubling and disturbing allegations” about her father, but she was given assurances these were being investigated.
On their brief trip to Brussels today, Harry will later join a panel discussion called Beyond Promises: Building A Digital Future That Works For Children to discuss how to protect children online.
The panel will cover topics including the responsibilities of tech companies and preventing online child sexual abuse and exploitation. Questions will be permitted from the audience, but not the media.
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