The Metropolitan Police is reviewing how it handled a letter received in January 2019 containing claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom.
Scotland Yard said the letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police Service Protection Command to raise security concerns about the Duchess of Sussex. After reviewing it, the force decided to pass it to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness.
The Metropolitan Police said the details of the allegations were not shared with other law enforcement agencies. It is considering whether the matter should be referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct to review its approach.
Reports about allegations concerning Thomas Markle
The Sun first published the claims and later said the letter made direct allegations of child sexual abuse against Thomas Markle. Reports said images of child sexual abuse allegedly belonging to Markle had been found at his former home in the Philippines. Markle denies possessing any such images.
Thomas Markle Jnr claimed he found a stash of images belonging to his father at the property, the Sun reported. He was said to have told police that he found child abuse videos and pictures among the items, and was understood to have contacted the FBI in July.
Authorities in the Philippines confirmed they were investigating the allegations. The BBC was told that an anti-human trafficking and child sexual exploitation task force was investigating the matter. Philippines Interior Minister Jonvic Remulla said national police had secured Thomas Markle’s computer and would conduct a digital forensic examination.
Meghan’s statement
Meghan said she was informed about “disturbing allegations” concerning her estranged father in 2018. She said she was assured at the time that the claims were being investigated.
She said she hoped people would understand why she had kept her distance from her father and did not allow him to contact her children. A spokesman for the Duchess of Sussex said any discrepancy of a few months in the timing of the letter was an understandable consequence of the passage of time.
Thomas Markle moved to the Philippines after suffering a series of strokes. He withdrew from attending Meghan and Harry’s wedding in 2018, citing ill health, and they became estranged.
Related: Met Police to investigate handling of Nicholas Brandram arrest after IOPC assessment
Source: BBC News
