Met Police Admits It Never Shared Thomas Markle Letter With Other Forces — As Meghan Says She Was Told It Was Being Investigated

Photo: Rajasekharan Parameswaran, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) — file photo of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 2019

Eight years after she says she was first shown a letter about her father, Meghan has finally got the police to say, on the record, what happened to it. The answer, delivered by the Metropolitan Police on Saturday, raises a question that will not go away quietly: if the letter was serious enough to pass to a duchess, why was it never passed to another police force?

The Met confirmed that in January 2019 it received a letter containing "a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom" relating to Thomas Markle Sr, the Duchess of Sussex's estranged father. According to the force, the letter went to its Protection Command, was reviewed, and was then passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex "for their awareness". The details, the Met said plainly, "were not shared with other law enforcement agencies".

Met Police Thomas Markle letter: what the force confirmed on Saturday

The confirmation came a day after Meghan spoke publicly about the letter for the first time. In a statement on Friday, she said she had been made aware of "troubling and disturbing" allegations against her father after her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, and that she had been given assurances they were being investigated. "I was given assurances that these were being investigated," she said. "I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families."

There is a wrinkle in the timeline, and the Sussexes have not hidden from it. Meghan recalled the letter arriving in 2018; the Met's records put it in January 2019. On Saturday a spokesperson for the duchess said it was "understandable" that she "may have been mistaken" on the date, and that the Met's record "should be treated as the accurate reference point". Both sides now agree on the record.

Why Meghan cut contact with her father — in her own words

Meghan's Friday statement offered a painful explanation for the rupture. She said the distance from her father, and her decision not to let him have contact with her children Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, was "for one reason: to protect them".

"I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications' distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them," she said. She added that she was "deeply distressed" by the news of the past 24 hours and that her thoughts were "with any children who may have been harmed".

Thomas Markle Philippines investigation: what is alleged, and his denial

The Met's statement landed as authorities in the Philippines confirmed they are investigating claims that Thomas Markle Sr kept child sexual abuse images at his former home in Cebu City. According to reports in The Sun, the material was found after he left the Philippines for the United States earlier this year, and his son Thomas Markle Jr is said to have reported finding it. Reuters reported that Philippine authorities said on Friday they were investigating.

Thomas Markle Sr, 82, has denied the allegations in the strongest terms. He told the Daily Mail they were "sick lies" and "a bunch of lies", saying he was shocked and hurt that his son was making the accusations. His daughter Samantha Markle also told the Mail the claims were untrue. Nothing has been proven in court, and the investigation in the Philippines is ongoing — a point worth stating plainly, because the headlines in this story travel faster than the facts.

What happens next: IOPC referral under consideration

The Met is not closing the book on its own role. The force said it is "reviewing the handling of this matter in 2019 and considering whether a referral to the IOPC is necessary to review our approach". The Independent Office for Police Conduct is the watchdog that examines serious police failings, and a self-referral would put the Met's 2019 decision-making under outside scrutiny.

It is also understood, according to Press Association reporting, that the Met has not previously investigated Thomas Markle Sr and is not currently investigating him. That leaves the central question unanswered: who decides a letter like this goes to the subject's famous daughter rather than to police abroad? The Met has said only that it was passed for the Sussexes' awareness because it raised concerns about the duchess's security.

For Meghan, Saturday's statement settles one thing she has lived with for eight years: the letter was real, the police did receive it, and it did reach her. Whether anyone else should have received it too is now a question for the watchdog — and, depending on what the Philippines investigation finds, for police forces in more than one country.

Editor's note: we could not verify a suitable video from a reputable outlet for this story, so this article carries no video embed.

Sources

• Reuters — UK's Met police says it sent allegations letter to Meghan and not other forces
• CNN — Meghan 'deeply distressed' over child sex abuse image allegations against father
• The Times — Thomas Markle: Met did not pass letter on Meghan's father to other forces
• People — U.K. Police Confirm Receiving Letter About Meghan Markle's Father
• Sky News (via Mansfield Radio) — Met Police told of allegations about Meghan's father, but did not share with other forces