Meghan Markle has pulled out of an event where she was slated to give a speech about online child safety in the aftermath of her father’s arrest by the FBI last week.Thomas Markle, 82, was charged with the possession of child abuse images on Friday and is currently under house arrest in an assisted living facility in Florida.“She’s just not strong enough, emotionally, to be doing any public speaking right now,” a source shared with The Telegraph.The plan was for Meghan to introduce Harry at the opening of the Lost Screen Memorial in Brussels today at European Parliament.Prince Harry will give now give the address with Meghan still in attendance.The Duchess released a statement after allegations against her father came to public light last month, saying she was “deeply distressed”.Harry and Meghan were slated to appear at the Memorial event at around the same time as the criminal case against Meghan’s father began to intensify.After his address, Harry will join a panel to discuss in-depth the issue of how to pragmatically protect children online, titled Beyond Promises: Building A Digital Future The Works For Children.The memorial itself will include a poignant and heart-wrenching vigil—an art installation of 50 phones each displaying a picture of a child who has died after experiencing online harm first-hand. The pair will then walk around the installation together.This event will be the first time Meghan is seen publicly since the charges against her father have been laid.Thomas Markle was arrested on November 6 and charged with one count of possession of child pornography. He did not enter a plea during his court appearance.The Sun also reported it was Thomas Markle’s son that uncovered a large number of indecent images of children at his father’s residence in the Philippines. Thomas Markle has emphatically denied the allegations in an interview with The Daily Mail, calling them “a bunch of lies.”“I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of,” he said.In a statement made to CBS, Meghan herself said she had been aware of the allegations against him since 2018 and that knowledge informed her decision to not allow contact between her father and her children.”I hope it can now be understood… distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them,” she said.BBC has also reported that Meghan confronted her father just last year about the allegations he faced.
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