Britainupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 24 April 2024Met Police Refers Itself To IOPC Over Handling Of Letter About Thomas Markle
“The letter warned Meghan's father posed ‘a high risk to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’.”
“While the letter did not actually contain any information specifically related to security matters”
Photo: Colin McLaughlin, CC0 · Cropped for layout
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Met Police referred itself to the IOPC over handling of 2019 letter about Thomas Markle. The letter was handed to Meghan in 2019 and allegedly contained claims about Thomas Markle.
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Met refers to watchdog
The Metropolitan Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after reviewing its handling of a letter containing allegations relating to the Duchess of Sussex's father, Thomas Markle. Commander Adam Slonecki, head of the Met's Protection Command, said the Met made a voluntary referral "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." The Met said the letter was received by its Protection Command in January 2019 and was addressed specifically to the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, which assesses threats to public figures.
The Met said the correspondence did not contain information relating directly to security matters, and it instead included a number of allegations concerning alleged offending outside the UK. The Met said it intended to make further referrals to "relevant overseas law enforcement agencies" and expected that process to be completed "in the coming days."
Meghan, Thomas Markle, and scrutiny
Meghan said the letter had "made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father," and she said it gave her sufficient reason for not visiting Thomas Markle and not allowing him to meet his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet. Jim Gamble, former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he would have expected the police to have shared any warnings, saying, "If you get information that comes to you about someone from a foreign jurisdiction who represents a threat to children". The BBC said the letter was written by Markle's first wife Roslyn Loveless, who divorced Thomas Markle in 1975 and died in 2024, and it was handed to his daughter, the Duchess of Sussex, in 2019.
The BBC said Scotland Yard said the letter contained claims about offending outside the UK and that it had been forwarded to "the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness." The BBC said Thomas Markle Sr has strongly denied all the allegations against him and described them as "sick lies."
Philippines investigation and next steps
Police in the Philippines began investigating the claims, and the BBC said Philippine Police have obtained a warrant to examine devices seized from Markle's former home. The BBC said four boxes of material, including computers, phones, hard drives and old videotapes, were handed to police by Meghan's half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, last week. ITV News said a warrant to examine computer data over Markle Sr's various devices was granted by the Regional Trial Court of Cebu City on Thursday, and it said police from the Exploitation of Children’s Taskforce in Cebu were going through the material that was handed to them.
ITV News said Meghan made a statement about the letter and its contents on Friday, saying that she had terminated contact with her father after receiving it in January 2019. The Independent said the Met misplaced the original 2019 letter, which was provided back to them by Meghan, who was reportedly upset and frustrated by the force's response.