Meghan Markle Receives Threats While In The UK, Counterterrorism Head Claims

Meghan Markle received threats when she and Prince Harry were still residing in the United Kingdom, according to a counterterrorism head.

In a new interview with Channel 4 News, Neil Basu, the former head of counterterrorism for the Metropolitan Police, opened up about the genuine threats to the Duchess of Sussex. He opened up about the issue amid his resignation as Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations for the Met Police.

"You were in charge of royal protection. How would you characterize the threats that Meghan and Harry received?" journalist Cathy Newman asked in a clip shared on Twitter.

"Well, disgusting and very real," Basu replied.

According to him, the extreme right-wing terrorism is the "fast-growing threat" to the country. Newman asked if the threats against Markle were "serious" and "credible" and if they were from the far-right.

"Absolutely, and if you'd seen the stuff that was written and you were receiving it... the kind of rhetoric that's online, if you don't know what I know, you would feel under threat all of the time," Basu replied, People reported.

When Newman asked again if the life of Prince Harry's wife was genuinely threatened more than once, the former counterterrorism head gave an affirmative response.

"Absolutely. We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats," he said.

Prince Harry offered to pay for police protection in the U.K., but the Home Office turned down his request twice. He asked for judicial review against the refusal of his request noting that he didn't feel it was safe to bring his family in his home country.

"Prince Harry inherited a security risk at birth, for life," his rep stated. "He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats."

In July, the High Court in London granted permission for a judicial review of the status of his U.K. government-funded security. The Sussexes' security has since been dealt with on a "flexible, case-by-case" basis since they stepped back from their royal duties. His lawyer Shaheed Fatima argued that "what flexible sometimes means is no security."

Judge Jonathan Swift granted Prince Harry permission to apply for judicial review over the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures' (RAVEC) decision. Following the judge's decision, the legal action will proceed to a full hearing at the High Court in London between Prince Harry and the U.K. government.