London, Oct 29 The UK’s Metropolitan Police on Thursday referred itself to the professional watchdog over its handling of a letter that contained allegations of child sex abuse against the father of Meghan Markle, wife of Britain’s Prince Harry.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will probe the letter containing allegations about the Duchess of Sussex’s father, Thomas Markle, after a so-called voluntary referral. It emerged last week that the former Hollywood actress, wife of Prince Harry, had been passed the document, which she described as “deeply distressing”.
“In recent days, the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards has carried out an initial review into our actions following receipt of the letter in 2019,” said Commander Adam Slonecki, who leads the Metropolitan Police’s Protection Command.
“Following that review, a voluntary referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in respect of the decision not to inform other law enforcement agencies and the decision to pass the letter to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“In addition, it is our intention to make a number of referrals to relevant overseas law enforcement agencies in relation to the allegations contained within the letter. That process is underway and will be completed in the coming days,” he said.
It comes as police in the Philippines are said to be investigating suspected child sex abuse images reportedly found at Thomas Markle’s former home in the country.
The Met Police said it received the letter in January 2019 addressed to its Fixated Threats Assessment Centre. The author of the letter suggested they were writing to raise concerns relating to the security of the Duchess of Sussex.
While the letter did not actually contain any information specifically related to security matters, it did contain a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom, Commander Slonecki notes in his statement.
“The letter was assessed and subsequently 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,” he admitted.
While Thomas Markle has denied the allegations against him, his son Thomas Markle Jr claimed he discovered a stash of child sex abuse images belonging to his father at his former property in the Philippines and reported it to local police and the FBI.
The letter to the Met Police is believed to have been sent by Roslyn Loveless, who divorced Thomas Markle in 1975 and died in 2024.
The handwritten note was then passed on to Meghan in January 2019, with the 45-year-old Duchess saying last week that it had “made troubling and disturbing allegations” against her father.
It had led to her and Prince Harry’s decision to cut ties and not allow Thomas Markle to meet his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet.
(PTI News)
