If the allegations against Thomas Markle Snr. prove true, charges should be laid and the full force of the law applied. If false, a full retraction and apology are in order. Should Thomas Markle Jnr. be culpable, the same standard must apply. Nobody deserves immunity or special treatment. The allegations against her father are deeply disturbing, but they do not magically erase Meghan Markle’s own history of dishonesty, contradictions and conduct many consider cruel. One does not cancel out the other. The media and Sussex Squad would do well to grasp the elementary distinction between two entirely separate issues. Compassion for a potential victim does not require the suspension of scrutiny elsewhere, nor does it confer retrospective sainthood upon anyone. If Meghan has known about these alleged crimes for years and deliberately remained silent, serious questions must be asked about her responsibility. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I find the prospect of someone possessing such knowledge yet failing to act to protect potentially vulnerable children utterly abhorrent. Whether that silence constitutes a criminal offence is for the law to determine. Morally, however, the implications are profoundly disturbing. Childhood sexual abuse is not a public relations inconvenience, a weapon to be kept in reserve or a story to be dusted off when expedient. It is a devastating violation whose scars can endure for a lifetime, affecting almost every aspect of a survivor’s existence. If you possess credible information that a child may be at risk, the responsibility to act must transcend personal grievances, reputation and self-interest. A child’s welfare must come first. Always. Not when convenient, not when public sympathy beckons, and certainly not when the revelation serves one’s own narrative. If Meghan has possessed this information for years, the questions are simple. What did she know, when did she know it, and what did she do to protect those potentially at risk? To remain silent whilst children may be vulnerable, only to invoke such horrors when they serve one’s own purposes, would represent a staggering failure of moral responsibility. Treating a matter this grave as another opportunity to occupy the moral high ground is repugnant. Child abuse is not a stage upon which to perform victimhood. A child’s suffering is not a prop, their safety is not a bargaining chip, and their trauma does not exist to furnish anyone with a more compelling personal narrative. If these allegations are true, let there be justice. If false, let there be accountability for the damage done. And if anyone knowingly allowed children to remain at risk when they could have raised the alarm, let that conduct be examined with the seriousness it deserves. I speak as a survivor. The consequences of childhood sexual abuse do not disappear when the world stops talking about them. That is precisely why this matter demands the utmost seriousness, not exploitation for personal advantage. Children deserve protection, not silence. Advocates, not spectators. Adults prepared to do what is right, however inconvenient or personally costly. Anything less is an appalling betrayal of those who most desperately need protecting.

Meghan’s dad Thomas Markle Snr is being investigated by authorities in The Philippines over vast collection of child sex images Full story in @TheSun thesun.co.uk/news/40779535/t…

The King and Prince William paid tribute to the victims of the Aberfan disaster today - while Prince Harry this week did another interview talking about himself. Caller Simone from Wales told @TVKev why this has made her so angry. "All Harry could do was sit there and whine. I think he is absolutely disgusting!"

Sixty years on, we remember the 144 people who lost their lives in the Aberfan disaster.   Today, The King and The Queen, with The Prince of Wales, spent time at the Aberfan Memorial Garden and the Aberfan and Merthyr Vale Community Centre to honour their memory.   The Aberfan Memorial Garden stands on the site of Pantglas School, where 109 children and 5 teachers died when the coal tip collapsed onto the village. Watch His Majesty’s speech in full on our YouTube channel (link in bio).

I know I write about the royals, but this from Aberfan today just broke me. It’s from Diane Thomas, 78, a rescuer from the Red Cross who was only 18 at the time of the disaster, and spoke to Prince William. She said: ‘The chapel had been converted into a mortuary so I spent three nights in the mortuary, bathing the children, to try and get slurry off their little faces so their parents could recognise them. ‘I took the anorak off one little boy, put my hand in his pocket and came out [with a note that] he’d had eight out of 10 for spelling. I’ve been trying all these years to think about how I can trace his mum. I can’t but I want to tell her because I was the last person to hold him and bathe him.’ This is why today is so important.