1.1K Prince Harry and Meghan Markle turned up at the European Parliament in Brussels this morning, apparently determined to remind the rest of the world how important it is to protect children. Harry delivered a speech about online safety and the dangers facing youngsters, telling his audience that children “deserve to feel safe wherever they are”.Whilst nobody is likely to argue with that, there’s just one rather awkward problem. While Harry was busy telling European politicians about the importance of protecting children, the headlines surrounding his own extended family were providing a rather uncomfortable backdrop to the whole performance.Meghan’s own father, Thomas Markle Sr, has recently been charged in the United States in connection with the alleged possession of child sexual abuse material. He denies wrongdoing and the case has yet to be determined by a court. The question must be asked: was Meghan aware of her father’s predictions? If so, that would explain, and indeed justify, her not introducing her own children to him.Her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, was also briefly identified as a person of interest during a Philippine investigation, although police have subsequently said they found no evidence linking him to the alleged offences.Then, of course, there is Harry’s own family connection. His uncle, Prince Andrew, has become almost synonymous with the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Andrew has always denied the late Virginia Giuffre’s allegations of sexual abuse – she committed suicide in April 2025 – and settled her civil case in 2022 without admitting liability. Nevertheless, his association with Epstein remains one of the most damaging scandals in modern royal history.Now, to be absolutely clear, neither Harry nor Meghan are responsible for the alleged behaviour of other members of their families, in fact might reasonably argue that they are in fact victims of the fall-out themselves. Meghan is estranged from her father, and Harry has no responsibility for his uncle’s actions.But surely that isn’t the point. When you decide to make yourself the public face of a campaign about protecting children, you can hardly expect people not to look at the circumstances surrounding your own family. And when those circumstances include three rather uncomfortable family connections, the timing of your grand public appearance is inevitably going to attract attention.Did nobody think this through?Harry’s message was all about preventing harm before it happens. An admirable principle, but perhaps one that could usefully be applied to the Sussexes’ own public-relations strategy. Somebody should have seen this coming. Somebody should have pointed out that a speech about child protection, delivered against this particular family background, was going to generate headlines that might not be entirely helpful to the cause.And then there is Meghan. The Duchess had apparently been expected to speak at the event herself, but withdrew from the planned address. According to a reported explanation, she was “just not strong enough, emotionally, to be doing any public speaking right now”.Fair enough. If she is struggling emotionally with everything happening around her family, nobody should criticise her for that. There are times when stepping back is the sensible thing to do. But if she wasn’t in a position to speak, why go to Brussels at all?She still travelled to the European Parliament and appeared alongside Harry, who proceeded with the speech. One might reasonably ask whether the entire exercise should have been postponed. Instead, the couple went ahead, and the result was an appearance that risks looking spectacularly ill-judged.At best, it could be seen as jumping on the latest fashionable bandwagon, using an important issue to maintain their profile and keep themselves in the headlines. At worst, some might see it as exploiting the suffering of innocent victims of sexual abuse to provide another platform for two people who have become remarkably adept at turning almost every public appearance into a story about themselves. That is a harsh assessment, perhaps, but it is hardly an unreasonable question to ask.The families of victims of online exploitation and sexual abuse deserve to have their experiences taken seriously. Their suffering is not a prop, and their campaigns are not an opportunity for celebrity self-promotion.Child protection is a serious business. It deserves people who understand the issues, who have thought carefully about what they are saying and who are prepared to put the cause ahead of their own publicity. Which brings us to another rather obvious and oft-asked question: do Harry and Meghan actually have any decent advisers? And if they do, do they ever listen to them?Surely somebody in their entourage should have recognised the potential embarrassment of this particular appearance. Surely somebody should have said: “Look, perhaps this isn’t the best time. Given what’s happening, perhaps we should think again.”Or is that simply not how things work in the Sussex household? Have they surrounded themselves with people who tell them what they want to hear, rather than people prepared to tell them what they need to hear? Is every new idea automatically greeted with enthusiasm, regardless of how it might look to the outside world?Because if that is the case, it would explain quite a lot. The problem with constantly presenting yourself as a champion of every worthy cause is that eventually people start asking questions about your own credibility. Being famous doesn’t automatically make you an expert, and appearing at the European Parliament doesn’t necessarily make your contribution any more meaningful.Harry was right when he said children deserve to feel safe. It is an important message and one that deserves to be heard, but there is a difference between genuinely helping a cause and simply attaching your name to it, as the Sussexes appear to be somewhat fond of doing..The European Parliament is not a celebrity photo opportunity, and Brussels is not Hollywood. The suffering of abused children should never become part of a carefully managed publicity exercise. Interestingly, at the time of writing, the European Parliament’s press room website carries no mention whatsoever of this morning’s visit. This is highly unusual.Perhaps Harry and Meghan should spend a little less time lecturing the rest of us and a little more time listening to some sensible advice, assuming, of course, that anybody around them is brave enough to give it!
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