Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to deliver a joint keynote address at the opening of the Lost Screen Memorial in the European Parliament on Tuesday, marking their first joint public engagement since the arrest of Meghan's estranged father, Thomas Markle Snr.
The couple will deliver a 15-to-20-minute speech focusing on children's digital safety, preceded by remarks from European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and MEP Antonio López-Istúriz.
Meghan's earlier visit to Geneva memorial
Meghan previously visited the Lost Screen Memorial in Geneva, Switzerland, earlier this year, where she said young people are being moulded by platforms "designed to capture attention at any cost: relentless algorithms, exploitative engagement, and endless exposure to harmful content that they are not seeking out".
The appearance follows the arrest and charging of Thomas Markle Snr, 82, in Florida on a federal complaint alleging he held images that show child sex abuse, according to the US Department of Justice.
Timing of the announcement
The announcement of the Brussels trip came minutes after King Charles and Queen Camilla boarded their RAF Voyager aircraft at the end of their nine-day Caribbean tour, during which questions over whether the UK should apologise and pay reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade were a major theme.
During the trip, King Charles branded the transatlantic slave trade a "shameful chapter of history" filling him with "profound sorrow". There have been ongoing calls for the UK to apologise for the slave trade and pay damages, despite Great Britain passing the Slave Trade Act of 1807.
From 1808 through to 1865 approximately 2,000 British Royal Navy sailors died while serving in the West Africa Squadron, which intercepted illegal slave ships and seized over 1,600 slave ships, liberating tens of thousands of captive Africans.
Reaction to the Sussexes' move
Express reporter Chris Riches wrote that the timing of the announcement "will stick in the craw" of King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Catherine, describing it as "so Harry". Riches said the Sussexes' actions suggest they still resent the rest of the Royal Family and that the timing of the announcement was "simply pathetic".
