Met Police Confirm 2019 Letter Alleging Crimes Against Meghan Markle's Father

London's Metropolitan Police have verified the existence of a letter sent to them in 2019. The document contained a number of specific claims regarding Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. A spokesperson for Scotland Yard disclosed the receipt of this correspondence on Saturday. This confirmation ends a period of speculation following reports released this week.

The police stated that they forwarded the letter to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. They noted that the specific details of the allegations were not shared with other law enforcement bodies at that time. The primary focus of the new inquiry is how the Metropolitan Police managed this file during that year.

This development follows a string of media reports about Markle's legal troubles abroad. On Thursday, the British tabloid The Sun claimed that Markle had been reported to authorities in the Philippines by his son, Thomas Markle Jr. The report alleged that the younger Markle discovered child abuse materials in storage boxes at their family home in that country. By Friday, it became clear that Philippine authorities were dealing with Markle over alleged possession of such materials. The Daily Mail reported on the same day that Markle denied the allegations.

In a statement provided to CBS News on Friday, Meghan described her reaction to the recent news coverage. She said she was deeply distressed by the reports. She explained that she had known of these allegations since 2018. She stated that the claims were shared with U.K. authorities at that earlier date. Her account places the initial contact with the police one year before the Met's official confirmation.

Her statement detailed the timeline further. She wrote that a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2018. She said that letter was subsequently shared with her. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against her father. She noted that she was given assurances that these matters were being investigated at that time.

The Duchess also addressed her relationship with her father. She said she had kept her distance from him to protect her children. She expressed hope that the public could now understand her decision not to allow him contact with the kids. She emphasized that this choice had one reason, which was to protect them. She referenced what she called certain media publications' distortion over the years in this context.

A key point of difference remains the date of the letter. Meghan refers to 2018 in her account. Scotland Yard identifies the year as 2019. A spokesman for the duchess addressed this gap in comments to BBC News, which is a CBS News partner. He described any discrepancy of a few months as an understandable consequence of that passage of time.

The Metropolitan Police have announced they will review how the matter was handled in 2019. This internal process will determine the next steps for the case. As part of this review, the force will decide whether to refer itself to the police watchdog. This potential referral adds a layer of oversight to the ongoing investigation into the father of the Duke of Sussex.