Veteran British police officer says threats against Meghan Markle's life were 'disgusting and very real' when he was in charge of royal protection

• The outgoing Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner discussed Meghan Markle in a new interview.
• Neil Basu said there were "disgusting and real" threats against Meghan and Prince Harry during his tenure.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle faced "disgusting and very real" threats against their lives from the far-right when the couple was in the United Kingdom, a veteran British police officer said.

Outgoing Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu, who was the former head of counter-terrorism for the force, spoke with UK's Channel 4 News about Prince Harry and Meghan's safety during his tenure.

Basu said Meghan in particular faced many credible threats against her life while he was in charge of royal protection.

"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 said in the interview, which aired on Tuesday.

When asked by Channel 4's Cathy Newman whether he was convinced there was a "genuine" threat on the Duchess of Sussex's life on more than one occasion, Basu replied, "We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats."

Basu is retiring from the Metropolitan Police following a 30-year career with the force.

Although disturbing, Basu's comments about threats against Meghan are not surprising, as the Duke of Sussex has shared his concerns over his family's safety for years.

According to the royal book "The Palace Papers" by Tina Brown, Harry married Meghan quickly so she would have police protection.

In the documentary "The Me You Can't See," Harry also said he feared for Meghan's life because of how the paparazzi's harassment led to Princess Diana's death.

"History was repeating itself," Harry said in the documentary. "My mother was chased to her death while she was in a relationship with someone who wasn't white, and now look what's happened. You want to talk about history repeating itself? They're not gonna stop until she dies."

And in their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry shared that he was scared for his family's safety when he and Meghan were living in Canada with their son Archie immediately after their step back in the spring of 2020.

"The biggest concern was while we were in Canada, in someone else's house, I then got told, short notice, that security was going to be removed," Harry said. "At this point, everyone knew, thanks to the Daily Mail, our exact location. So suddenly it dawned on me: 'Hang on. The borders could be closed. We're going to have our security removed. Who knows how long lockdown is going to be. The world knows where we are. It's not safe, it's not secure. We probably need to get out of here.'"

Tyler Perry ended up providing a home and security for the couple in California, giving them time to get their own security set up.

Harry also requested a judicial review of the UK government's decision to deny his ability to hire self-funded police protection for his family when he is in the country.

In February 2022, the Duke of Sussex's attorney, Shaheed Fatima, said Harry would not bring his children to the UK because of the arrangement and that he "does not feel safe when he is in the UK given the security arrangements applied to him," according to the Associated Press.

The couple were reportedly given special police protection when they were in the UK for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June.