Met Police Sent 2019 Abuse Allegations Letter Directly to Sussex Office

The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Friday that they passed a 2019 letter containing allegations against Thomas Markle Sr directly to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The force stated the document was shared for the awareness of the royal couple but was not sent to other law enforcement agencies. This clarification follows new reports that Markle Sr possessed child sexual abuse images.

According to The Sun, Meghan's half-brother Thomas Markle Jr told detectives in the Philippines that he found hundreds or thousands of such images on computers and mobile phones. These devices were stored in four large boxes at the couple's former home in Cebu. Markle Sr lived in the Philippines until returning to the US in May following a stroke. Markle Jr also stated he contacted the FBI regarding the findings.

Markle Sr has denied the claims. In a comment to the Daily Mail, he described the accusations as sick lies. The Metropolitan Police said it received the original letter in January 2019. The document outlined claims of offending outside Britain. A spokesperson for the force explained that the letter was sent to the Protection Command to raise security concerns for the Duchess. The Protection Command reviewed the material and decided to pass it to the Sussex office.

The police are currently reviewing how the matter was handled in 2019. They are considering referring the case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The review involves a thorough check of the force's systems and records to determine the timeline of actions taken when the letter was first received.

Meghan Markle responded to the news on Friday through a spokesperson. She described herself as deeply distressed and said her thoughts were with any children potentially harmed. She confirmed that a letter with troubling allegations had been shared with her. The duchess said she was given assurances that the claims were being investigated. She stated that her decision to limit contact between her father and her children was made solely to protect them.

The Duchess is estranged from her father, who has never met her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The couple recently moved back to the UK from the US. Meghan initially stated the letter was sent in 2018, but she later corrected this to 2019. Her spokesperson noted that she had misremembered the year by a few months when recalling events from more than seven years ago without a contemporaneous record.

Sources indicated that Meghan could not speak publicly about the 2019 letter because doing so might have jeopardized a future investigation. They added that speaking out could have led to legal action against her. The Metropolitan Police is treating the time-stamped record of the 2019 review as the accurate reference point for the timeline.