What Scotland Yard is examining
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it is looking into accounts that a letter reached one of its specialist units in 2018 carrying allegations about Thomas Markle, the father of the Duchess of Sussex. The force said its Royalty and Specialist Protection Command was reported to have been involved in passing the letter on, and that it is making internal checks to establish whether that happened.[S1][S2][S3]
Meghan said in a statement that a letter setting out troubling claims regarding the behaviour of her estranged father had been sent to the police and was later passed on to her. The Sun reported that the correspondence was addressed to a Met unit that evaluates individuals who could threaten royals and politicians, known as the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre.[S1][S7][S8]
British officers are not conducting a criminal investigation into Thomas Markle, who lives in the United States and firmly rejects the allegations. The Yard's inquiry is confined to confirming the claim that its royal protection personnel handed the letter to the Duchess eight years ago.[S1][S7]
Claims from the Philippines and denials
Reports on Friday said that child sexual abuse images said to be Markle's, aged 82, had been discovered at the home in the Philippines where he previously lived. The Sun, which broke the story, subsequently reported that the letter contained direct accusations of child sex abuse against him. Meghan's half-brother Thomas Markle Jr told the paper that he came across the images there and alerted police.[S1][S5][S6]
Nicholas Ty, an undersecretary at the Philippine Department of Justice, told the BBC that a task force on anti-human trafficking and child sexual exploitation based in Cebu is looking into the case. Interior Minister Jonvic Remulla said in a separate statement that the national police now hold Thomas Markle Sr's computer so it can undergo a full digital forensic examination, with findings due within a week.[S1]
The FBI said it was aware of the allegations and would assist Philippine authorities where appropriate, adding that it would also examine any related claims of breaches of US federal law. Thomas Markle moved to the Philippines in 2025 after several strokes; he is reportedly now at a rehabilitation centre in Florida, relearning to walk after a leg was amputated in surgery in December 2025.[S1]
A family rift and a public statement
Meghan is the sole child born to Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland, and from an earlier marriage he has two further children, Samantha and Thomas Markle Jr. Relations between Meghan and her father, once a television lighting director, soured ahead of her 2018 wedding after it emerged he had collaborated with photographers and accepted money to arrange staged pictures of his wedding preparations.[S1]
It is understood that Meghan learned of the allegations against her father soon after marrying Prince Harry. People close to the Sussexes said she was unable to speak publicly at the time because doing so might have compromised any future investigation, and that speaking out could have exposed her to legal action.[S1]
In her statement, Meghan said she hoped people would understand why she had kept her distance from her father and had not permitted him to have contact with her children, which she described as a way of protecting them. She said she had trusted that authorities were doing the same for other families, and that her thoughts were with any children who may have been harmed.[S1][S5][S6]
