British Police Confirm 2019 Letter About Meghan's Father; Investigation Underway

Metropolitan Police confirmed on Saturday that they received a letter in January 2019 containing allegations about Thomas Markle, father of the Duchess of Sussex, but did not share the details with other law enforcement agencies. The letter was sent to the Met's Protection Command citing security concerns related to the Duchess and was passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness only.

Allegations surfaced this week that Markle, 82, kept child sexual abuse images at his former home in the Philippines. His son, Thomas Markle Jr., reported finding hundreds to thousands of such images and notified authorities. The Philippines Department of Justice confirmed an investigation is underway through an anti-human trafficking and child sexual exploitation task force, with the interior ministry stating that national police had secured Markle's computer for digital forensic examination. The FBI said it was "aware of the allegations" and would "provide support, as appropriate, to the Philippine authorities" while investigating any related federal violations. Markle, currently based in the United States, has denied all allegations, calling them "sick lies" and "the worst thing anyone could accuse me of."

Meghan released a statement Friday saying she was "deeply distressed" by the allegations and that she had been informed of "disturbing allegations" against her father in 2018. She stated she was "given assurance that these were being investigated." Meghan explained her long estrangement from her father and decision not to allow him contact with her children—Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5—as necessary "to protect them." She said the scope of the investigation was "more sickening than one could ever imagine."

The Met's handling of the 2019 letter is now under internal review, with Scotland Yard considering whether to refer the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. A discrepancy exists between Meghan's statement placing her initial awareness in 2018 and the Met's confirmation of receiving the letter in January 2019; a spokesperson for Meghan told NBC News she "may have been mistaken by a few months." Markle's relationship with his daughter deteriorated before her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, when he was found to have staged photographs with media in exchange for payment and did not attend the ceremony.