Met investigates reports of letter detailing claims about Meghan’s father

Met examines claim that 2018 letter about Thomas Markle was passed to Meghan

Ninoda.com – The Metropolitan Police is carrying out internal checks after claims that a letter containing serious allegations about Thomas Markle was shared with his daughter, the Duchess of Sussex, in 2018.

Meghan said she was notified that year of what she described as “disturbing allegations” concerning her estranged father. She said the letter was sent to the police and that she was assured the claims were under investigation.

The Met’s inquiry is not an investigation into Thomas Markle himself. Instead, it is focused on whether officers in the force’s Royalty and Specialist Protection Command passed the letter to Meghan eight years ago.

“We are aware of media reports that officers from the Met’s Royalty and Specialist Protection Command were involved in the passing on of a letter in 2018. We are undertaking inquiries internally in an effort to confirm this.”

Claims linked to former home in the Philippines

The renewed attention follows allegations that images of child sexual abuse connected to Thomas Markle, 82, were found at his former home in the Philippines. He is based in the United States and strongly denies the allegations.

Thomas Markle Jr, Meghan’s half-brother, said he had found the material at the Philippines property and alerted police. Authorities in the Philippines have confirmed that the matter is being examined by a task force dealing with human trafficking and child sexual exploitation in Cebu.

Nicholas Ty, an undersecretary at the Philippines Department of Justice, said the case was under investigation. Interior Minister Jonvic Remulla said national police had taken possession of Thomas Markle Snr’s computer for a full digital forensic examination.

Investigators are reviewing the data to establish the scale of any potential criminal activity. Remulla said forensic findings were expected to take about a week. The FBI said it knew of the allegations and would assist Philippine authorities where appropriate, while also examining any connected claims that might involve breaches of US federal law.

Meghan explains distance from her father

In a statement released on Friday, Meghan said the 2018 letter had reached her shortly after her marriage to Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. She said she had been told that the concerns set out in it were being investigated.

She said she hoped the public could understand why she had remained distant from her father and why he had not been allowed contact with her children. Meghan described that decision as a measure intended to protect her family.

“I am deeply distressed. My thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed.”

People close to the Sussexes said Meghan did not speak publicly about the claims when she first became aware of them because doing so could have affected a future inquiry. They said public comments at the time might also have exposed her to legal action.

The case raises separate questions in several jurisdictions. Philippine authorities are examining the allegations and electronic devices connected with the property there. The FBI has indicated it may consider any US federal-law element. In London, the Met’s work is narrower: determining whether its own officers handled and shared the 2018 letter as claimed.

A fractured family relationship

Meghan is the only child from Thomas Markle’s marriage to Doria Ragland. He also has two children from an earlier marriage, Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr.

Her relationship with her father broke down in the weeks before her 2018 wedding. Thomas Markle, a former television lighting director, was found to have worked with photographers and accepted payment for staged pictures showing him preparing for the ceremony. He did not attend the wedding.

The events surrounding the wedding became a highly public rupture within the family, and Meghan has since kept her relationship with her father at a distance. Her latest statement places that separation in the context of concerns she says were communicated to her in 2018.

Thomas Markle moved to the Philippines in 2025 after suffering a series of strokes. He is now said to be in a Florida rehabilitation centre, learning to walk again after part of his leg was amputated during surgery in December 2025.

No criminal finding has been made against him in connection with the current allegations. The forensic work in the Philippines and any related inquiries by US authorities remain ongoing. The Met has likewise not said whether its internal checks have confirmed that the 2018 letter was handled by its specialist protection officers.

For readers, the distinction between these inquiries is significant. The police review in London concerns the alleged transfer of information to Meghan, while the investigation in the Philippines concerns the underlying claims and the analysis of digital evidence. Both processes are at an early stage, and the outcome of either has not yet been determined.