Meghan Markle Faced 'Disgusting and Very Real' Threats in the U.K., Former Counterterrorism Head Says

No Charles wasn't there it was her husband. First husband. Can't remember his name.

When i say saw them off I was referring to the fact Anne would not go with this gun toting chap. She refused. So I my eyes saw them off is an OK casual expression

I think Megan and Harry wanted to stay out of the public eye.

And of course Princess Anne saw off a kidnap attempt which had hand gins drawn. Couple of policemen were shot but not fatally.

Interesting. How rumours start.

Four people were shot, none of them fatally, only one was a policeman. Anne saw off nothing, only the people who were trying to save her "saw anything off". Including a passer by who is quoted as saying "I still believe that the life of a member of the Royal Family is much more important than mine." She did stay calm though. Charles wasn't there. (Not sure if you meant that he was.)

Other than that you are completely correct.

which had hand gins drawn. Hand guns of course. Hand gins sounds much more pleasant. Good old predictive text

Jaswant Singh Chail was found wandering around the grounds with a cross bow threatening to kill the Queen.

And of course Princess Anne saw off a kidnap attempt which had hand gins drawn. Couple of policemen were shot but not fatally.

Anne gave Parky a brilliant interview about the whole thing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXoyjpeEH_o

Nothing to do with Basu. But it just got me thinking. Charles twiddling his cufflinks as his bodyguard slammed him out of the way when a chap came along shooting wildly.

Sorry for diverting thread.

I' am appalled that MM received vile threats but not hugely surprised. Social Media has turned many of us into vile creatures. Just watching the Vardy/Rooney and Heard/Depp trials we were shown Tweets that had been sent that were horrendous. Threats to babies. Awful, awful stuff.

We have a man in our village who has police involved with Twitter threats.

Young children being bullied online. Dreadful case where one girl was being harassed on FB, she killed herself and it was discovered that the mother of a friend of the child's was writing the comments!

We say Be Kind so often but I think we might have been a tad kinder before we had the Internet.

Possible I suppose Blossoming, but I don't see why a reference to these threats, with no specific details would have compromised any ongoing investigations.

Those who made the threats will have known that those threats would have been investigated.

I’m sure there were credible threats to Meghan it comes as no surprise to me, celebrities and other in the public eye are at risk from lunatics.
Thankfully guns are not as available as the US so the risk is less, Meghan has not exactly endeared herself in the UK so I guess that has made her a hate figure to some so security has to be taken seriously.

Am I the only person who watched the actual interview?
Probably helpful to do so before commenting on it?

Neil Basu was Head of counter-terrorism policing between 2018-21, but was passed over for the position of Metropolitan Police Commissioner and head of the National Crime Agency. He claimed to have been blocked because he had been outspoken on issues of race and diversity.

Oh, I googled. Mr Basu in post since 2018.

London Bridge bombing, 2017.

Manchester Arena Bombing (remembering that Manchester isn't in London) 2017.

One person scaled the fence of Buckingham Palace and was apprehended in 4 minutes. 2019

Michael Fagin, 1982

Joseanne

She as a person is history now and no longer worth discussing. Of no importance really.

I really don’t get that comment . She is history ? So all people in the past who have received death threats are also history ?

Personally whoever it is who sis targeted bybterrorists/extremists is of interest.

I don't believe that the Met has responsibility for Manchester.

It's quite sinister this, isn't it? Some public person says something some people don't like so they try to discredit his reputation and motives.

Features in Mr Putin's playbook, probably.

Am I right in thinking it was on Mr Basu watch that intruders got into the Queen's personal space ?

Was it while he was part of the security force that we had London Bridge Bombing , Manchester Arena and other threats to life and limb that were carried out?

Call me cynical but I do wonder if he's trying to "up" his profile by bring the focus on to M&H and race.

No one should be subjected to threats and M&H are not alone in this awful behaviour be that from individuals or organisations.

It is a know fact that there are those who threaten and those who would carry out their threats given an opportunity to do so.

So why is Mr Basu making his interview about M&H and race? This isn't M&H's doing, it's Mr Basu's and M&H don't seem to have had a choice about being dragged into his agenda.

That’s scary, Esspee. Our police have guns but every time one uses a gun there is a huge enquiry, even if they are faced with another person with a gun or lurching at them with a knife. Wouldn’t be a cop for quids.

I have spent considerable periods in California and other states and I can assure you that you have to be constantly aware of the dangers posed by seemingly ordinary people.
In Chicago we were picked up by the police, our sin? we were walking back from a restaurant to our hotel (visible in the distance). The police car had automatic weapons lying on the seat and we were given a kindly lecture about what not to do in the States.
Our grandchildren have active shooter drills at school and the perimeter is patrolled by armed guards in a very quiet, upmarket area where house prices start at $1mil.
In Texas the first question the police ask is “are you carrying guns?”
It is difficult for those of us in the U.K. to understand quite how safe our country is.

It's appalling that anyone would have death threats against them and surprising to me, that this was never mentioned at the time they made their decision to leave the UK

Probably to avoid compromising any ongoing investigations.

MerylStreep

I wonder how the thousands of women who live with threats to their lives every day feel about the protection she received.
After all, according to Meghan, we are all equal.

I wonder how many of those women get suspected Anthrax through the post. Not many, I suspect!

volver

^She as a person is history now^

That's a bit threatening, isn't? To say that about a living person? Like maybe someone is going to send the boys round...

Or in this case 'the grannies'. Much more frightening.

She as a person is history now

That's a bit threatening, isn't? To say that about a living person? Like maybe someone is going to send the boys round...

Joseanne

She as a person is history now and no longer worth discussing. Of no importance really.

The length of this thread would suggest otherwise.

Smileless2012

I agree Normandygirl, nothing substantive to discuss. It's appalling that anyone would have death threats against them and surprising to me, that this was never mentioned at the time they made their decision to leave the UK.

That's a very good point smileless2012

Basu stated, “We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats.”

Maybe we need to hear more about successful measures to combat hate crime. It might balance things out rather than endless criticism.

We’re not a perfect country. Nowhere is.

It seems to me that anyone who is in the public eye is apt to receive vile abuse from media trolls. I don’t think I would want to be famous for that reason.

I read that before they were married Harry and Meghan received a white powder substance in the post that turned out to be harmless. Then there was abuse on social media. It’s not just about feeling safe though, it’s the vileness of it all that is sickening. So now we know it was for real but should not have been unexpected in the current world. JK Rowling regularly receives death threats too.

It was one of the best and most powerful interviews I have ever seen. He spoke in deeply felt but measured tones about the threat from the far right, current Home Office policies towards refugees, the murder of Sarah Everard and this...
Asked whether he regretted being seen as “woke”, Basu responded: “Are you alert to issues of racial and social justice? Yes I am. And if that is the definition of woke, I’ll wear it as a bumper sticker every day of the week.”
Minimising what happened to the Duchess of Sussex is, in my opinion, tasteless in the extreme, given this evidence.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/29/duchess-of-sussex-faced-disgusting-threats-to-life-senior-met-officer-says