Met Police confirms receiving letter about Meghan's father

Summarised from 6 outlets · 7 reports · Updated 24 Oct, 13:15 · Archive

The Metropolitan Police confirmed it received a letter in January 2019 containing allegations about Thomas Markle, the Duchess of Sussex's father.

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed they received a letter in January 2019 containing allegations about Thomas Markle, the Duchess of Sussex's father. The force said the letter was sent to its Protection Command to raise concerns about the security of the Duchess of Sussex.

In a statement, Scotland Yard confirmed that following a thorough review of its systems and records, the letter contained 'a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom'. The decision was made to pass the letter to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness.

The Met Police statement said: 'The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies.' The force is reviewing the handling of the matter in 2019 and considering whether a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct is necessary.

Meghan released a statement on Friday saying she had been made aware of 'troubling and disturbing allegations' about her father in 2018. She said a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police's Royalty and Specialist Protection was shared with her and she was given assurances the allegations were being investigated. She used this as context for her decision to cut all contact with her father in 2018.

Thomas Markle, 82, who is based in the United States, denies all allegations against him. It was reported on Friday that authorities in the Philippines are investigating allegations that images of child sexual abuse were found in his former home there. Markle has called the accusations 'sick lies'.

Meghan has been estranged from her father since before her wedding to Prince Harry and he has never met her children, Archie and Lilibet. Markle moved to the Philippines last year after suffering a series of strokes.

How it is being reported

• Met Police did not share Thomas Markle Sr claims with other law enforcementThe force said on Saturday it received a letter in 2019 about a ‘number of claims’ relating to the Duchess of Sussex’s father.Evening Standard · 24 Oct, 13:23
• Meghan issues statement clarifying Met Police timeline as Duchess 'mistaken by a few months'Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has issued a statement clarifying her timeline with the Metropolitan Police, as the Duchess has acknowledged she may have been "mistaken by a few months". It comes after the force spoke out on Saturday afternoon, confirming it had received a letter regarding allegations made about Thomas Markle in 2019. However, Meghan had claimed on Friday that she was shown said letter in 2018. The Duchess's spokesman has now told GB News: "In recalling events from more than seven years ago, without the benefit of a diary entry or contemporaneous record, it is understandable that…GB News · 24 Oct, 13:20
• Police confirm they received letter containing 'a number of claims' relating to Meghan Markle's fatherThe Metropolitan Police have said in a statement that they did receive a letter and the decision was made to pass it on to Harry & Meghan's officeThe Mirror · 24 Oct, 13:00
• Met Police say letter with claims about Meghan's father not shared with other law enforcementThe Met said it passed information to the duchess but did not share it with other law enforcement agencies.BBC News · 24 Oct, 12:58
• Met Police did not share Thomas Markle Sr claims ‘with other law enforcement’The force said on Saturday it received a letter in 2019 about a ‘number of claims’ relating to the Duchess of Sussex’s father.Evening Standard · 24 Oct, 12:57
• Met Police confirms it received letter detailing claims about Meghan’s fatherThe development comes a day after the Duchess of Sussex said police shared the letter with her eight years agoThe i Paper · 24 Oct, 12:51
• Meghan Markle bombshell as she's defended over Met Police letter claimsThe letter was sent to the Met Police according to new reports.Daily Express · 23 Oct, 20:00

In this story: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex · Thomas Markle · Prince Harry · Metropolitan Police · Philippines · United Kingdom

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem