Met Police refers itself to watchdog over handling of letter containing allegations about Meghan's father

The Metropolitan Police has asked the police complaints watchdog to look at its own conduct. The force has voluntarily referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over a handwritten letter that reached its royal protection team and was handed to the Duchess of Sussex in January 2019. The letter contained allegations about her father, Thomas Markle.

The letter was written by Roslyn Loveless, Markle's first wife. She divorced him in 1975 and died in 2024. The Met says the referral concerns two decisions: not to inform other law enforcement agencies, and to pass the letter to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It added that it intends to make further referrals to relevant overseas law enforcement agencies, a process it expects to finish in the coming days.

The Met has described what the letter did and did not contain. It said the letter held no information specifically related to security matters, but did include a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom. Scotland Yard said it was forwarded to the Sussexes' office for their awareness. The force said an initial review in recent days led to the referral, and that it was aware of media reports that it had tried to obtain a copy of the letter.

There are also reports that the Met kept no copy of its own and had to get one from the Sussexes. Meghan said in a statement last week that the letter had made troubling and disturbing allegations against her father. She gave no details, but said it gave her sufficient reason not to visit him or let him meet her children, Archie and Lilibet. She also said she believed the allegations were being investigated. The watchdog will have to establish what became of the warnings.

The IOPC is expected to consider why the contents were not shared with agencies in the UK or overseas. There are likely to be questions about what royal officials knew, since the letter arrived while Meghan was still a working royal and went to the Sussexes' office rather than to her personally.

Jim Gamble, former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he would have expected police to share such warnings. He described a well-worn path for information about someone from a foreign jurisdiction who may threaten children. He said he would have expected the Met to go to the FBI, making clear that the claim was unproven but might merit a look.

Noel Rasmussen, Thomas Markle's granddaughter and Meghan's niece, told the BBC she was deeply troubled by the questions about the Met's handling of the information. She said it was reasonable to ask what steps were taken and why it was not shared, and that those questions deserve clear, transparent answers.

The reports about the letter surfaced alongside a separate development in the Philippines. Thomas Markle's son, Thomas Markle Jr, told police there about material alleged to contain sexual images of children, which he said he found among his father's possessions. Markle Sr was in the Philippines in December 2025 for hospital treatment when Meghan wrote to end all contact. Markle Jr handed over four boxes of items last week, including computers, phones, hard drives and old videotapes. Officers in Cebu needed a court warrant to examine them and have since obtained one.

Markle Sr strongly denies the allegations, calling them "sick lies". His daughter Samantha has backed him and dismissed the claims as "fake". The IOPC's review of the Met's decisions and the Philippine examination of the seized devices now proceed separately.