Met Police under watchdog investigation over handling of Thomas Markle allegations

An IOPC spokesperson told GB News: “Following a voluntary conduct referral from the Met Police, we have decided an independent investigation is required into its failure to pass on allegations of serious offending, contained in a letter it received in 2019, to relevant overseas authorities at the time.”

After assessment, the letter was forwarded to the Sussexes’ office, but no other law enforcement body was notified of the allegations it contained.

Rather than alerting other agencies, the force had simply forwarded the letter to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Commander Adam Slonecki, head of the Met’s Protection Command, explained that the letter had been received in January 2019 and was directed to 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,” he said.

“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.”

Commander Slonecki confirmed that the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards had recently conducted a preliminary review of the force’s actions, which led to the voluntary referral to the IOPC.

He added that the force now intends to make “a number of referrals to relevant overseas law enforcement agencies” in the coming days.

A separate conduct matter identified during the referral process, concerning a potential data breach when the letter was shared with the Sussexes, has been sent back to the Met for internal handling.

The IOPC spokesperson continued to tell the People’s Channel: “We have decided that a further conduct matter relating to an alleged data breach where information was passed on to a third party should be returned to the force to be appropriately dealt with including via its data breach policies if required.”

The allegations against Mr Markle Sr came to public attention after his son, Thomas Markle Jr, 60, claimed he had stumbled upon what he described as a cache of child sexual abuse material at his father’s residence in Cebu, Philippines.

Authorities in the Philippines have secured a court warrant permitting police to forensically examine the alleged items that Thomas Markle Jr. handed over to them.

Philippine interior minister Jonvic Remulla indicated that the forensic analysis was expected to take around a week, stating that “right now all signs point to a possible sex offender of the grossest kind.”

Markle Sr has strenuously denied all the claims against him. He has dismissed the allegations as “sick lies” and vowed to do “whatever it takes” to clear his name.

The Duchess of Sussex said in a statement last week that she first learned of the “troubling and disturbing” allegations against her father when royal protection officers passed the letter to her, and that she had been assured the claims were under investigation.

“I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed,” she said.

Meghan expressed hope that her long-standing estrangement from her father would now be better understood, saying her decision to keep him away from her children was taken “for one reason: to protect them.”

“I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families,” she added.