London police confirm 2019 letter about Meghan's father

The Metropolitan Police in London has verified that it holds a file from 2019 containing specific accusations against Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. A spokesperson for Scotland Yard provided this information to CBS News on Saturday.

Police records show the letter was forwarded to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's office so they would be aware of the claims. The force stated that the specific details within the document were not passed along to other law enforcement bodies at the time.

This confirmation arrives after a series of reports this week regarding Markle's legal status. The Sun newspaper reported on Thursday that Markle's son, Thomas Markle Jr., had reported his father to authorities in the Philippines. The younger Markle reportedly found child abuse materials in storage boxes at the family home. By Friday, reports indicated that Philippine authorities were addressing Markle over alleged possession of child sexual abuse materials. The Daily Mail noted on Friday that Markle denied these specific allegations.

Meghan issued a written response to CBS News on Friday. She described herself as deeply distressed by the news. She stated that she had known about the allegations since 2018 and that they were shared with U.K. authorities during that year. In the statement, she wrote that a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2018. She said the letter made troubling and disturbing allegations against her father and that she was given assurances it was being investigated.

The duchess also explained her decision to limit contact between her father and her children. She said she hoped it could now be understood that her choice had one reason: to protect them. She referenced what she called certain media publications' distortion over the years in explaining this dynamic.

A discrepancy exists between the two accounts regarding the date of the letter. Meghan referred to 2018, while Scotland Yard confirmed receipt in 2019. A spokesman for the duchess addressed this gap in comments to BBC News. He described any discrepancy of a few months as an understandable consequence of the passage of time.

The Metropolitan Police announced it will review how the matter was handled in 2019. As part of that internal audit, the force will decide whether to refer itself to the police watchdog.