I hope for her sake that Meghan Markle finds the answers soon - Christa Ackroyd

Do I think it was in part because she is American and we are snobby Brits ? Yes I do.

Do I think race played a part? Absolutely.

Do I think she and her husband Harry have brought some of it on themselves by airing their disagreements in public? I have always said that too.

But now reading between the lines we know why they ran for the hills, especially the hills of gated community of Montecito in California. As far away as possible.

The fact they have come back is in part because they now realise you can run but you can’t hide and in the end the music has to be faced.

I am pretty sure they would rather be here with at least some support as they face their biggest test yet.

Poor, poor Meghan. To be accused of being difficult is one thing. To be accused of being showy is another. But accused of being the daughter of a pervert is quite a different burden to carry.

How we would begin to cope facing anything like the allegations made against your own flesh and blood as she is doing now and in the full glare of the world’s media.

I doubt we would be able to put one foot in front of the other. How alone must you feel? How betrayed must you believe yourself to be?

How you must just hope it is cleared up and the allegations are not true.

Well I hope she finds strength and support from those around her, and that includes each and every member of the Royal family, including the Prince of Wales.

If he can go on telly to talk to Graham Norton I hope he can find it in his heart to pick up the phone to his brother and at least show some things are bigger and heavier than any crown you may one day have placed upon your head and show loyalty in difficult times.

What a burden it must have been for Meghan Markle to carry as the fairytale came crashing down upon her.

We couldn’t begin to know how much the towers were tumbling so soon after their wedding. Now we do. And all the while having to smile and act the part.

Which just goes to prove what a good actress she really is until she could act no longer.

She had to get away, have babies, feed chickens, make jam and wait for eight long years, always in her heart of hearts knowing the day would come when her father would be accused in public of being a sick individual not just in health but in mind.

Meghan Markle was successful and wealthy in her own right when she married a Prince. On paper she was all set for the perfect life, a story book ending until the tables turned on her.

In reality she seemed so fortunate and so blessed that as ever it was enough for the jealous green eyed monsters to rear their ugly heads and begin to attack, attack, attack.

And now this. Suddenly everyone is saying poor Meghan.

Well to the judgmental bunch out there, and I include many from my own profession, I hope, as my granny would say, you are proud of yourselves. Now you know.

I have always thought behind the smile as our newest member of the Royal family she looked uncomfortable, cornered even.

I never for one moment believed she was unaware of what she was letting herself in for.

She is used to being in the public eye, knew of her husband’s past and that of his mother when all too often they were hounded by the press.

It was bad enough to discover your father had sold photographs to the press a few days before your wedding, meaning you were left in part to walk down the aisle alone, before your future father in law accompanied you to the front, knowing billions were watching, and yes, gossiping.

The sense of betrayal must have been immense. But this? Nothing could have prepared her, or indeed us, for this.

Of course here I will say Thomas Markle vehemently denies being in possession of, some say hundreds, others thousands, of photographs of child pornography.

Now and only now after it has been made public, does it seem an investigation to find the truth is under way.

Even to have it suggested, let alone to be sent details of the allegations just months after your marriage when you already feel let down by your father must have been devastating.

No wonder it all became too much when coupled with the sudden wave of criticism that seemed to come from nowhere.

Imagine the conversations you were forced to have in private with your husband. Worse still imagine having to tell your Royal father in law in case it became public.

And now it has, imagine preparing a statement where you are forced to explain why you made the decision not to allow any contact between your two precious children and the man who stands accused of crimes against children.

The shame, the hurt, the anger, the embarrassment and above all, as Meghan said in her statement amid the furore, the sympathy you must feel for those who it is claimed were the victims.

‘Deeply distressed’ I suspect doesn’t come close to how she is feeling. What is more she has lived with this for eight long years.

During that time she must have hoped that investigations would have concluded and the truth revealed, good or bad.

That nothing happened but the writing of a letter telling her of the allegations made against her father is despicable.

She is right to point out she was given assurances they would be investigated.

That it has taken until now before those investigations even began in earnest must have been an intolerable burden, and one that even the strongest would have crumbled under the weight of.

And still she doesn’t know the truth and neither do we. What we do know is that this young woman has had to suffer in silence.

Imagine going from thinking it can’t be true because we would have heard by now, to now knowing they hadn’t heard because nothing was done about it simply doubles down the pressure she and her husband have had to live with from just a few months after their marriage.

I am desperately sorry for all victims of child pornography. It is abuse of the highest order. The lives of those children have been ruined forever, their trust shattered beyond recognition.

But so too have the lives of the children who have to live knowing that someone they loved and also trusted is nothing more than a monster hiding in the shadows.

I hope for her sake the Duchess has answers soon.

Until then one can only say that I wish her and her husband well and until then she too has my deepest sympathy.