Meghan Markle‘s family has come under renewed scrutiny following serious allegations against her estranged father, Thomas Markle. The allegations have also raised questions about how British police handled information they received in 2019. The Metropolitan Police now faces an independent investigation into its handling of a letter containing allegations against Markle.
UK police watchdog reviews handling of Thomas Markle allegations
The Met Police admitted it failed to share serious child sexual abuse allegations against Thomas Markle with police agencies overseas. Instead, it sent the letter directly to Meghan Markle’s office. The force has referred itself to the IOPC for an independent investigation into the error.
According to the BBC, Metropolitan Police Commander Adam Slonecki, who leads the force’s Protection Command, said, “In January 2019, the Met received a letter addressed to our Protection Command, specifically the Fixated Threats Assessment Centre.”
“The author of the letter suggested they were writing to raise concerns relating to the security of the Duchess of Sussex. While the letter did not actually contain any information specifically related to security matters, it did contain a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom,” he added.
According to Adam, “the letter was assessed and subsequently passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies.”
According to reports, the Met Police also misplaced the original letter. However, Meghan had kept a copy and provided it to the police when they requested it.
Meghan is reportedly upset by the police’s handling of the allegations. Meghan has said she received assurances in 2019 that the allegations were being investigated. In reality, the police had kept the matter under wraps and sent the letter directly to her own office.
The Duchess of Sussex has had no contact with her father since their estrangement in 2018. In December 2025, Meghan reportedly sent her father a letter after he underwent leg amputation surgery. The 45-year-old reportedly accused her father of abuse in the letter and indicated that he would not be allowed to meet her children.
