Met Police Confirm 2019 Letter Contained Claims on Thomas Markle

London police have verified that a document arrived at their headquarters in 2019 outlining several accusations against Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. A spokesperson for Scotland Yard disclosed the existence of the letter to CBS News on Saturday. The Metropolitan Police stated they forwarded the document to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex so they were aware of its contents. They did not share the specific allegations with other law enforcement bodies.

The confirmation arrived after a week of conflicting reports regarding Markle's legal status. On Thursday, The Sun reported that Markle's son, Thomas Markle Jr., reported him to authorities in the Philippines. The younger Markle claimed he found child abuse materials in storage boxes at the family home. By Friday, reports indicated that Philippine authorities were addressing Markle over alleged possession of such materials. The Daily Mail reported that Markle denied the allegations on that same day.

Meghan addressed the reports in a statement sent to CBS News on Friday. She described herself as deeply distressed by the news. She stated she had known about the allegations since 2018. She claimed those details were shared with U.K. authorities at that time. Her statement said a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and the Royalty and Specialist Protection unit in 2018. She noted that the letter was subsequently shared with her. It contained troubling and disturbing allegations against her father. She said she was given assurances that an investigation was underway.

The duchess also explained that she kept her distance from her father to protect her children. She said she hoped the public could understand that her decision to limit his contact with them had one reason: to protect them. She referenced media distortion over the years as a factor in public perception. The core of the current dispute lies in the timeline. Meghan referenced 2018 as the year the letter was sent. Scotland Yard identified 2019 as the year they received it.

A spokesman for the duchess addressed this gap in comments to BBC News. He described any discrepancy of a few months as an understandable consequence of the passage of time. The Metropolitan Police said they will review how the matter was handled during 2019. As part of that process, they will decide whether to refer themselves to the police watchdog.

The audit will examine the internal steps taken by officers when the letter arrived. No new external investigation has been announced yet. The police confirmed the letter made a number of claims about Thomas Markle. They did not specify the nature of those claims in their initial disclosure.