'Disgusting, very real': Duchess Meghan faced online threats in UK, says senior police official

Prince Harry and his wife, Duchess Meghan of Sussex, were subjected to a deluge of online threats when they lived in the United Kingdom, according to a senior police official who described the abuse as "disgusting and very real."

Neil Basu, the outgoing assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, told Channel 4 News in an interview posted on Twitter Tuesday that the threats were credible and the quantity and tenor of the content would have left the former Meghan Markle feeling “under threat all of the time."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who left the U.K. and moved to California in 2020 in part, they said, for security reasons, have been decrying racist and violent threats since at least 2016, even as their legion of critics have accused them of exaggerating their threat vulnerability.

From 2020: Harry & Meghan, with beagle Guy, call for end of 'structural racism' in UK

Now Basu, formerly head of counter terrorism and in charge of royal protection during the years before the Sussexes left, is backing up what they've been saying.

His remarks provide new context for Harry’s legal efforts to get police protection for his family when they are in the U.K., about which he is suing the British government.

Speaking to Channel 4's Cathy Newman, Basu, who is biracial, was asked to characterize the threats the Sussexes received. "Disgusting and very real," he responded.

There were many of them and mostly from the far right, he confirmed.

Sharon Osbourne said Duchess Meghan 'ain't Black' in resurfaced clip from 2021. Here’s why she's wrong.

Related: New racism allegations hit Buckingham Palace – and not from Prince Harry or Duchess Meghan