UK police says letter with claims against Meghan’s father was not shared with other law enforcement

LONDON (AP) — British police confirmed Saturday that they passed a letter about alleged offending by the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to her in 2019, but said it did not share details with other law enforcement agencies.

Meghan, Prince Harry’s wife, said Friday she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at a former home of her father, Thomas Markle Sr. She issued a statement after a British tabloid newspaper reported that her brother found the images while clearing out their father’s home in the Philippines.

She also referred to a letter containing “troubling and disturbing allegations” against her father that was sent to the Metropolitan Police Service’s Royal and Specialist Protection unit, which later shared its contents with her.

On Saturday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that in January 2019 it received a letter “containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom.”

It said that while officers shared the letter with Harry and Meghan’s office, they did not share the allegations with other law enforcement agencies — and that it is now reviewing how it handled the matter and considering whether the force needs to be referred to the police watchdog.

Meghan married Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018. They have two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Thomas Markle Sr., a retired television lighting and photography director, did not attend their wedding, prompting extensive media coverage of Meghan’s estrangement from her father. Meghan said her decision to distance herself was intended to protect her children.

“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children,” Meghan said in Friday’s statement.

Thomas Markle Sr. was living in the Philippines earlier this year when he suffered a stroke and had his left leg amputated. That forced him to return to the U.S.

The Sun reported that Thomas Markle Jr. recently found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in boxes at his father’s former home in the Philippine city of Cebu when he was clearing out the property. Markle Jr. told the newspaper that he reported the images to police in the Philippines and contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the U.S.

In the Philippines, the director of the National Bureau of Investigation, Melvin Matibag, told The Associated Press that the FBI has sought its assistance in looking into the allegations of Markle Jr. against his father.

Philippine Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla told the AP separately that the national police was also investigating the allegations by Markle Jr. against his father, without elaborating.

The 82-year-old Markle denied the allegations in comments to the Daily Mail newspaper.