45-year-old Meghan Markle told to hold off on 2019 claims against father

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that a letter containing serious child sex abuse allegations against Thomas Markle was delivered to his daughter in January 2019. The document, written by Markle’s first wife Roslyn Loveless, accused the former model of traveling to the Philippines and Thailand on the belief that 12-year-olds were legal partners. Meghan Markle reportedly wanted to release the details to the public immediately upon receiving the handwritten note. An officer from the Royalty and Specialist Protection unit allegedly advised against this course of action, telling her to leave the matter with them for investigation.

The situation has escalated into a review of how the Metropolitan Police handled the case. The Times reports that the officer in charge failed to pass the letter up the chain of command. Senior leadership, including then-Commissioner Cressida Dick and Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, remained unaware of the serious allegations. Royal aides were also kept in the dark about the claims, which involved crimes committed abroad. The force is currently attempting to identify and locate the specific officer involved in the 2019 incident.

In 2019, Markle was already under public scrutiny for cutting ties with her father. He had not been invited to her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018. At the time, the police officer reportedly told the Duchess, “Leave it with us, we’ll investigate it.” Loveless, who wrote the initial letter, died in 2024. The Metropolitan Police has now referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. When asked for comment, the force declined to provide further details at this stage.

The allegations gained new momentum last week after Markle’s estranged stepbrother, Thomas Markle Jr., reported finding alleged child sex abuse material in their father’s home in Cebu City, Philippines. Markle Jr. stated he found hundreds, if not thousands, of indecent images and videos. This included a 15-minute video showing children believed to be between 10 and 11 years old. He reported the discovery to local police authorities.

Further scrutiny has fallen on a storage unit in Rosarito, Mexico, which Markle allegedly rented since 2017. A Daily Mail reporter was granted access to the unit after Markle failed to pay rent for two years. The contents reportedly included 35mm negatives of children on a beach, books on sexual behavior, and a paper listing URLs labeled “Dark Web.” Markle denied possessing a storage unit in Rosarito, stating he had no such arrangement. Hours after the contents were reported to authorities, sex crime investigators from Mexico’s Guardia Nacional arrived and removed boxes of material.

Markle, who is currently in a nursing home in Florida following the amputation of his leg last year, denies possessing the images found in the Philippines. He has also denied the claims related to the Mexican storage unit. Meghan Markle, 45, described the accusations against her father as “troubling and disturbing” in a statement released last week. She said the decision to keep her family, including children Archie and Lilibet, at a distance was made to protect them. The two grandchildren have never met their grandfather.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed the letter was shared with Meghan and Prince Harry for their awareness. The source of the letter, Roslyn Loveless, detailed Markle’s travel habits and the specific crimes he allegedly committed. The police review focuses on why the information did not reach senior officers at the time. The Independent Office for Police Conduct will now examine the handling of the case. The force is working to find the officer who first met with the Duchess in 2019. No further public statement has been issued by the police regarding the timeline of their internal inquiry.