Met Police Verify 2019 Letter Detailing Claims Against Prince Harry’s Father
Scotland Yard confirmed receipt of a 2019 document alleging wrongdoing by Thomas Markle, a timeline Meghan Markle previously dated to 2018.
By Yuna Fletcher ·
The Metropolitan Police in London has verified the existence of a 2019 letter containing multiple allegations regarding Thomas Markle, the father of the Duchess of Sussex. A spokesperson for Scotland Yard disclosed the receipt of the document on Saturday.
Police stated they forwarded the letter to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex so the couple would be aware of its contents. The specific details within the allegations were not distributed to other law enforcement bodies at that time.
This confirmation arrives amid a week of intense media coverage regarding the Markle family. The Sun reported on Thursday that Thomas Markle Jr. reported his father to authorities in the Philippines after allegedly finding child abuse materials in storage boxes at the family home. By Friday, reports indicated that Philippine officials were handling the matter based on claims of possession of child sexual abuse materials.
Thomas Markle denied the allegations, according to The Daily Mail, which reported the denial on Friday. Meanwhile, Meghan Markle issued a statement to CBS News on Friday describing herself as deeply distressed by the recent news cycle.
In that statement, Meghan said she had known about the allegations since 2018. She claimed the information was shared with U.K. authorities in that year. The statement noted that a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2018 was later shared with her. It contained troubling allegations against her father, and she was assured an investigation was underway.
A discrepancy exists between the two accounts regarding the date of the letter. Meghan’s statement places the event in 2018, while Scotland Yard confirms receipt in 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 has announced it will review how the matter was handled in 2019. As part of this process, the force will decide whether to refer itself to the police watchdog.
Source: CBS News
