The key facts

  • The Metropolitan Police confirmed that in January 2019 it received a letter containing a number of allegations about alleged offences outside the UK connected to Thomas Markle
  • The information was passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex but not to other law enforcement agencies; the police are considering a referral to the watchdog, the IOPC
  • Philippine authorities are investigating the claims: the national police have seized Markle's computer for digital forensic examination

Police confirm receipt of 2019 letter

London's Metropolitan Police has confirmed that in January 2019 it received a letter containing a number of allegations

about alleged offences outside the UK connected to Thomas Markle, the father of the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan.

According to Scotland Yard, the letter was sent to the police's Protection Command out of concern for the Duchess of Sussex's safety. After review, it was decided to pass it to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness; the details of the allegations were not shared with other law enforcement agencies, BBC News reports. The police said it is examining how the correspondence was handled in 2019 and is considering whether the matter should be referred to the watchdog, the IOPC.

Markle Jr's claims and Meghan's position

According to The Sun, which first published the information, Meghan's half-brother Thomas Markle Jr said he found a set of images believed to belong to his father in his former home in the Philippines, and reportedly told police about the discovery there of videos and photographs depicting the sexual exploitation of children. He is said to have contacted the FBI in July. Thomas Markle himself, 82, who lives in the United States, denies owning any such images. On Friday, Meghan issued a statement saying that in 2018 she was informed of

disturbing allegations

concerning her father and was given assurances that they were being investigated. She also expressed the hope that it would be understood why she kept her distance from her father and did not allow him contact with our children.

including a possible referral to the IOPCDiscrepancy in dates and the investigation in the Philippines
Responding to the clarification that the letter was dated 2019, a spokesperson for the Duchess said that

a discrepancy of a few months was an understandable consequence of the passage of time

; second, parallel investigations in the Philippines and, reportedly, in the United States mean the case spans several jurisdictions. In practical terms, the next developments will be the outcome of the Metropolitan Police's review and the results of the digital forensic examination of Markle's computer; no final conclusions have been reached, and a number of key claims remain officially unverified., the BBC notes in a separate piece about Meghan's statement. Markle moved to the Philippines last year after a series of strokes; he is reported to be now in a rehabilitation facility in Florida, where he is learning to walk again after having a leg amputated in 2025. The Philippine authorities have confirmed they are investigating the claims: the BBC was told the case is being handled by a task force against human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children, and the country's interior minister, Jonvic Remulla, said the national police had seized Markle's computer and would carry out a digital forensic examination.
Context and significance

Thomas Markle pulled out of Meghan and Harry's wedding in 2018, citing poor health, after which they became estranged; the couple moved to the United States in 2020 after stepping back from royal duties, and this year returned to the UK with their children for the first time in six years. The story matters for two reasons: first, it raises the question of why the London police did not pass the allegations contained in the letter to other law enforcement agencies in 2019 — this is exactly what is now being examined,