Met Police Confirm 2019 Letter Alleging Claims Against Thomas Markle

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed on Saturday that it received a letter in 2019 containing multiple claims about Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. A Scotland Yard spokesperson disclosed the document's existence to CBS News, ending weeks of speculation regarding the status of the complaint.

Police stated that the 2019 letter was forwarded to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. The specific allegations contained in the document were not shared with other law enforcement agencies at that time. The confirmation follows a week of intense media coverage in the United Kingdom and the Philippines.

The renewed scrutiny began on Thursday when The Sun reported that Thomas Markle Jr., the father's son, had reported his parent to authorities in the Philippines. The younger Markle allegedly discovered child abuse materials in storage boxes at the family home. On Friday, reports emerged that Philippine authorities were dealing with Markle over alleged possession of those materials, a claim Markle denied to The Daily Mail.

In a statement sent to CBS News on Friday, Meghan described herself as deeply distressed by the reports. She stated that she had been aware of the allegations since 2018 and that they were shared with U.K. authorities at that time. Her statement noted that a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2018, which was later shared with her.

The duchess said the letter made troubling and disturbing allegations against her father, for which she was given assurances that an investigation was underway. She added that she had kept her distance from Thomas Markle to protect her children. She said her decision to limit contact with him had one reason: to protect them, despite what she called distortion in certain media publications.

The two accounts differ on the date of the letter, with Meghan citing 2018 and Scotland Yard citing 2019. A spokesman for the duchess told BBC News that any discrepancy of a few months was an understandable consequence of the passage of time. The Metropolitan Police said it will now review how the matter was handled in 2019.

As part of that internal review, the Met will decide whether to refer the case to the police watchdog. The review focuses on the handling of the original complaint rather than the underlying allegations themselves.