U.K. Police Confirm Receiving Letter About Meghan Markle’s Father, but Say Allegations Were Never Shared with Other Authorities

London’s Metropolitan Police have confirmed receiving a letter containing allegations against Meghan Markle‘s estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., but say the details were never shared with other law enforcement agencies.... SEE THE NEXT PAGES for more.... In a statement shared with us on Saturday, Oct. 24, the Met said it received the letter in January 2019 and subsequently passed it to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The police force is now reviewing how the matter was handled and considering whether to refer itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the U.K.’s police watchdog. The confirmation comes after the Duchess of Sussex, 45, revealed in an Oct. 23 statement to us that she had been made aware of “troubling and disturbing allegations” against her father following her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. Meghan said she had been given assurances that the allegations were being investigated. “Following a thorough review of Met Police systems and records, we have confirmed that in January 2019, we received a letter containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom,” a Met Police spokesperson said. “It was sent to the MPS Protection Command to raise concerns in relation to the security of the Duchess of Sussex,” the spokesperson continued. “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 spokesperson added, “The MPS is reviewing the handling of this matter in 2019 and considering whether a referral to the IOPC is necessary to review our approach.” The Met’s statement also raises questions about the timeline. While Meghan previously said the letter was sent to police in 2018, the force says its records show it was received in January 2019. Reacting to the statement, a representative for the Duchess of Sussex told on Oct. 24, “In recalling events from more than seven years ago, without the benefit of a diary entry or contemporaneous record, it is understandable that she may have been mistaken by a few months.” “If the MPS holds a time-stamped record confirming that the letter was reviewed in 2019, that should be treated as the accurate reference point for when it was received and shared with the Duchess,” Meghan’s representative continued. “It is reasonable to recognize that she is doing her best to recall the precise timing of events that were not diarized at the time, and that any discrepancy of a few months is an understandable consequence of that passage of time,” the representative added. The police confirmation follows new reporting about the contents of the letter. On Oct. 22, The Sun reported that Thomas Sr., 82, was being investigated for alleged possession of child pornography. The following day, the outlet reported that it had seen a copy of the letter addressed to the Metropolitan Police’s Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC), a specialist unit that assesses potential threats to the royal family and other public figures. The letter alleged that Thomas Sr. had sexually abused a child, and it claimed that he had admitted to traveling to the Philippines and Thailand to abuse children, The Sun reported. The Sun also reported that the Duchess of Sussex’s half-brother, Thomas Jr., alerted the “cops” and FBI to his alleged discovery of “hundreds, if not thousands” of child pornographic images at Thomas Sr.’s home in Cebu, Philippines. In an article published by The Daily Mail a day later, Thomas Sr. denied the child pornography possession allegations, stating, “I’m shocked, I’m hurt and I’m very upset that my son is making these accusations against me. I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of.” “This is bulls---. It’s just a bunch of lies. It’s sick. I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies,” he added, per the outlet. We learned that Meghan was made aware of the letter sent to the Metropolitan Police after her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. Her father did not attend the wedding amid controversy over staged paparazzi photos and reported health problems. “In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father, and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” the Duchess of Sussex said. At the time, the allegations had not been substantiated, and Meghan was advised that speaking publicly about them could jeopardize any potential investigation, a source familiar with the situation told . The Duchess of Sussex was also concerned about the legal implications of publicly repeating unproven claims, the insider further explained. Meghan also said in her statement that she was “deeply distressed” by the allegations, adding that her thoughts “are with any children who may have been harmed.” “I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children was for one reason: to protect them,” the Duchess of Sussex said. “I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families. 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, who has been estranged from her father since the lead-up to her wedding to Prince Harry, reached out to him in writing last year, following Thomas Sr.’s emergency leg amputation. However, the contents of that correspondence have not been made public, and the nature of her message remains unclear. If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor. SOURCE : People