❀ Colleen 🇺🇸

Why are some people, including those who call themselves journalists, so desperate to make the Royal Family responsible for Meghan Markle's family affairs? And what exactly are they expecting Buckingham Palace to have done? Even if the wider Palace had been briefed beyond the Sussexes’ office about the allegations concerning Thomas Markle in 2019, what legal, constitutional or institutional authority did it have to investigate a US citizen living overseas, contact him or interfere in Meghan’s relationship with her father? The letter was received by the Metropolitan Police’s Protection Command, specifically the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre. The police assessed the information and decided to pass it to the Sussexes’ office for their awareness. Why should Buckingham Palace have been expected to second-guess that decision or take over a matter outside its remit? Meghan was the person directly concerned. She has said she was made aware of the allegations and given assurances that they were being looked into. She and Harry were adults, capable of deciding how to handle her father and what boundaries to establish to protect their children. Those were their decisions to make, not the Palace’s. And even if the King, William or other senior royals had been informed, what exactly could they have done? They had no authority to investigate Thomas Markle, compel witnesses or dictate how Meghan managed her family relationships. Any further investigation belonged to the relevant authorities, not Buckingham Palace. The Metropolitan Police has now referred its handling of the matter to the IOPC, including its decision not to share the allegations with other law enforcement agencies at the time. Those are legitimate questions about police handling. But how does that become a Buckingham Palace scandal? Why is an institution with no investigative authority being expected to account for decisions made by the police? The Royal Family is not Meghan’s family investigations department. Marrying into the monarchy does not make every private family problem an institutional responsibility, nor does it give the Palace a mandate to interfere in the affairs of relatives who have no official role in the monarchy. And let’s be clear about accountability. We can question Meghan’s decisions, her handling of the situation and her silence without transferring responsibility to the Royal Family. She was directly involved. The King and William were not responsible for managing her relationship with her father. There is a difference between holding people accountable for their own decisions and demanding that an entirely separate institution answer for them. That distinction should not be so difficult to understand.