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- Metropolitan Police considers watchdog referral after confirming it received letter in 2019 concerning alleged offenses outside UK
By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - London's Metropolitan Police confirmed that it received a letter containing allegations of criminal wrongdoing against Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in 2019 but did not share the information with other law enforcement agencies, British media reported Saturday.
The force said it was considering referring itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the police watchdog, over its handling of the allegations, according to Sky News.
Thomas Markle is reportedly under investigation by authorities in the Philippines over allegations that he possessed child sexual abuse images at his home. He has strongly denied the allegations.
"Following a thorough review of Met Police systems and records, we have confirmed that in January 2019, we received a letter containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom," a Metropolitan Police spokesperson told Sky News.
The force said the letter had been referred to its Protection Command because it raised concerns about the security of the Duchess of Sussex.
"The letter was reviewed and a decision was made that it should be 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," the spokesperson added.
The acknowledgment came after Meghan said Friday that she was "deeply distressed" by the allegations concerning her father.
She also referred to a letter sent to her in the summer of 2018, shortly after her wedding to Prince Harry in May that year.
The duchess has been estranged from her father since 2018, when he was involved in a controversy over staged paparazzi photographs ahead of her wedding.
"I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications' distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them," Meghan said Friday.
The developments followed a report by The Sun that Meghan's half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., claimed to have discovered a collection of images belonging to their father at his former home in the Philippines.
The allegations have not been established in court, and Thomas Markle has denied possessing the images.
Harry and Meghan returned to the UK with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, in August, six years after stepping back from their roles as senior working members of the British royal family and moving to California.
