Police Letter Confirms Inquiry Into Markle Allegations

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed Saturday it received correspondence in 2019 containing a number of claims regarding Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The letter was forwarded to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. Police stated the specific details within the document were not shared with other law enforcement agencies.

The timeline of these events has come into sharp focus this week. On Thursday, reports surfaced stating that Thomas Markle Jr. had alerted authorities in the Philippines after allegedly locating child abuse materials in storage boxes at the family home. By Friday, coverage indicated that Philippine authorities were dealing with Markle Sr. regarding alleged possession of child sexual abuse materials. Markle Sr. denied these allegations in reports published Friday.

In a statement provided Friday, the duchess expressed that she was deeply distressed by the reports. She noted she has been aware of the allegations since 2018 and that they were shared with U.K. authorities at that time. "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," her statement said.

The duchess also addressed her estrangement from her father, stating she has maintained distance to protect her children. She expressed hope that it could now be understood that, "despite certain media publications' distortion over the years," her decision to deny him contact with the children had "one reason: to protect them."

A discrepancy exists regarding the timeline of the correspondence. The duchess refers to 2018, while Scotland Yard points to 2019. A spokesman for the duchess addressed this in comments to BBC News, a CBS News partner. The spokesman said "any discrepancy of a few months" was "an understandable consequence of that passage of time."

Looking ahead, Scotland Yard stated the Met will review how the matter was handled in 2019. As part of this process, police will determine whether to refer the matter to the police watchdog.