Updated February 23, 2018 11:57:06

Photo: Police said tests showed the substance was non-suspicious. (Reuters: Toby Melville)

Police are investigating a suspicious package that was sent to Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle as a racist hate crime, Scotland Yard says.

The Metropolitan Police force said "a package containing a substance" was delivered to St James's Palace, where Harry has his office, on February 12.

The force said the substance "was tested and confirmed as non-suspicious".

The force said counterterrorism detectives are investigating the incident as an alleged malicious communication offence, "and it is being treated as a racist hate crime".

The Evening Standard newspaper reported that the package was a letter containing white powder and a racist message.

The Prince and Markle are due to marry on May 19 at Windsor Castle.

Earlier this month, a letter containing white powder was sent to an office at Parliament, leading to a partial evacuation of the building.

It also was found to be non-toxic.

Prince Harry, the younger son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, and Ms Markle, best known for her role in the US TV legal drama Suits, will marry at a ceremony at the queen's Windsor Castle home on May 19.

Photo: The package was sent to St James's Palace, where Harry has his office. (Flickr: Marc Pether-Longman)

AP/Reuters

Topics: crime, law-crime-and-justice, race-relations, royal-and-imperial-matters, united-kingdom

First posted February 23, 2018 11:48:29