Police Say The 2019 Letter About Meghan Markle’s Father Was Never Passed To Other Agencies

The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Saturday that it received a letter in January 2019 containing a number of claims about alleged offending by Thomas Markle Sr. outside the United Kingdom — and that the details of those allegations were never shared with any other law enforcement agency. The letter had been sent to the force’s Protection Command to raise concerns in relation to the security of the Duchess of Sussex.

“Following a thorough review of Met Police systems and records, we have confirmed that in January 2019, we received a letter containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom,” a Met spokesperson said in a statement shared with People. “The letter was reviewed and a decision was made that it should be passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies.” The spokesperson added: “The MPS is reviewing the handling of this matter in 2019 and considering whether a referral to the IOPC is necessary to review our approach.” The IOPC is the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the police watchdog for England and Wales.

The Times reported that the Met had been unable to find the original letter and had contacted the Duchess’s office to ask for a copy; a representative of the Duke and Duchess said they still had a copy and were prepared to give it back to the police. The Met also told People that it is aware of media reports that officers from its Royalty and Specialist Protection Command were involved in the passing on of a letter in 2018, and that it is “undertaking enquiries internally in an effort to confirm this.”

The two accounts differ on the year. In a statement on Friday, October 23, the Duchess of Sussex said: “In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father, and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.” The Met’s records, by contrast, put the letter’s receipt in January 2019. A representative for the Duchess told People on Saturday: “In recalling events from more than seven years ago, without the benefit of a diary entry or contemporaneous record, it is understandable that she may have been mistaken by a few months.” The representative added: “If the MPS holds a time-stamped record confirming that the letter was reviewed in 2019, that should be treated as the accurate reference point for when it was received and shared with the Duchess.”

The force’s confirmation came days after The Sun reported on Thursday, October 22, that Markle Sr., 82, was being investigated for alleged possession of child sexual abuse images. The Sun reported the following day that it had seen a copy of the letter, which it said was addressed to the Met’s Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, the specialist unit that assesses and manages threats to the royal family and other public figures. According to The Sun, the letter alleged that Markle Sr. had sexually abused a child. The allegations in the letter have not been established as fact.

In the Philippines, officials confirmed on Friday that Markle Sr. is being investigated in Cebu City by officers of the anti-trafficking and anti-child abuse task force, The Times reported. TMZ confirmed that a special police unit called the Women and Children Protection Center is also probing Markle Sr. The FBI told TMZ that it will provide support to the Philippine authorities and will “investigate any related allegations of federal violations of U.S. law.” The bureau gave the same statement to People: “The FBI is aware of the allegations and will provide support, as appropriate, to the Philippine authorities. We will also investigate any related allegations of federal violations of U.S. law.”

The claims were brought to the police by Markle Sr.’s son, Thomas Markle Jr., 60, the Duchess’s half-brother. He says he found the alleged material in four large boxes at his father’s former home in Cebu, mixed in with family mementos — “hundreds, if not thousands” of images, in his words. “When I found this material, I was horrified and I had no option but to report my dad,” he told The Sun. “I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years — but that stops now. I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him.” The Sun reported that he reported the discovery to the FBI hotline, the U.S.-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the state police in Pennsylvania on July 10. Photographs published by The Sun appeared to show Philippine police removing four large boxes of material — reported to contain photographic negatives, VHS tapes and DVDs — that had been collected from Markle Jr. under legal supervision on Friday, The Times reported. After his father’s denial, Markle Jr. told The Sun: “I’m sure the huge piles of evidence I’ve taken to the police today will reveal the truth once the police experts examine it.”

Markle Sr. has denied the allegations. Speaking to the Daily Mail on Friday, he said: “I’m shocked, I’m hurt and I’m very upset that my son is making these accusations against me. I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of.” He called the claims “total BS” and “a bunch of lies,” adding: “It’s sick. I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies.” The Duchess’s half-sister, Samantha Markle, disputed her brother’s account, telling the Daily Mail: “There is no merit in these disgusting allegations whatsoever.” She said the computers on which the material was alleged to have been found were held in storage in the basement of a building in the Philippines, where her father “had no access” to them for two years.

In her statement on Friday, the Duchess said: “I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed.” She added: “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.” And she said: “I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families. Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.” People previously reported that the Duchess was made aware of the letter after her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, which her father did not attend, and that a source familiar with the situation said the allegations had not been substantiated at the time and that she was advised that speaking publicly about them could jeopardize any potential investigation.

On Saturday, The Sun reported that the Duchess had written to her father one final time while he was hospitalized in the Philippines in December 2025, following a blood clot that led to the amputation of his leg. In the letter, The Sun reported, she told him that she knew of the allegations against him, that she would never allow him to meet her children, and that it was the last time he would ever hear from her. The Sun also reported that she accused him of sexually abusing children in the letter, and that she arranged for hospital management to take the letter to his bedside, ask him to sign a form confirming receipt, and record him accepting it. Markle Sr. left the Cebu house in May and returned to the United States, The Sun reported, and he is now in a rehabilitation centre in Florida, according to The Times.

Sources: Metropolitan Police statement, shared with People; People; The Sun; TMZ; The Times; Page Six; Sky News; the Daily Mail.