LONDON — Police in the British capital said Saturday that they received a letter containing allegations about the estranged father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, in 2019, but did not tell other law enforcement agencies.Authorities in the Philippines confirmed this week that they are investigating Thomas Markle over claims that he kept child sexual abuse images at his home.
He has denied the allegations.Meghan said in a statement Friday that she was “deeply distressed” by the allegations, and said she was previously informed by police of “disturbing allegations” against him in 2018.A spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police said that, following a review of records, it received a letter in January 2019 “containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom.” “It was sent to the MPS Protection Command to raise concerns in relation to the security of the Duchess of Sussex,” the statement added.“The letter was reviewed and a decision was made that it should be passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness.
The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies.”The statement did not say if any investigation took place or if any further action was taken.The force said it was reviewing the incident and considering whether to refer itself to the United Kingdom’s Independent Office for Police Conduct.Asked about the discrepancy between the two statements on the date of the letter, a spokesperson for Meghan told NBC News she “may have been mistaken by a few months.” The allegations against Markle Sr.were first reported Thursday by The Sun, a British tabloid, which reported that his son had informed police after he said he found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in boxes at his father’s home.
The Sun published a photo it said showed Thomas Markle Jr., signing a sworn statement it said he had submitted to police an...