IOPC investigation opens into Met’s failure to pass on 2019 letter about Meghan’s father

An IOPC investigation has been launched into how the Metropolitan Police handled a 2019 letter containing allegations about Thomas Markle, the father of the Duchess of Sussex. The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it will examine the force’s “failure to pass on allegations of serious offending” to “relevant overseas authorities at the time”.

The watchdog’s move follows a voluntary referral by the Met itself. No one has been reported as arrested or charged in connection with the underlying allegations, which Mr Markle strongly denies.

What the IOPC will examine

According to the Met, it received a letter in January 2019 addressed to its Protection Command, specifically the Fixated Threats Assessment Centre. The writer said they had concerns about the Duchess of Sussex’s security. Commander Adam Slonecki said the letter contained no information specifically about security, but did include “a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom”.

The letter was assessed and then passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “for their awareness”. The Met has confirmed the details of the allegations were not shared with other law enforcement agencies. The BBC understands the letter was written by Mr Markle’s first wife, Roslyn Loveless, who divorced him in 1975 and died in 2024.

The IOPC investigation will centre on why that information stayed within the force and the Sussexes’ office. Separately, the watchdog has decided a second matter, an alleged data breach in which information was passed to a third party, should go back to the Met to be dealt with, including under its data breach policies if required. No details of the alleged breach have been given.

Questions over the paper trail

Several outlets have reported that the Met did not keep its own copy of the letter and had to ask the Sussexes for one. The BBC noted that officers sent the letter to the couple’s royal office rather than to Meghan personally. The IOPC will have to consider how the force treated the contents at the time.

There is also a gap in the timeline. The Met says the letter arrived in January 2019, while reports of Meghan’s own account refer to being told of “troubling” allegations in 2018. The sources do not explain the difference, and it is not clear whether the IOPC investigation will address it.

Mr Markle’s granddaughter, Noel Rasmussen, told the BBC she was “deeply troubled” by the questions around the Met’s handling. She said it was reasonable to ask what steps were taken and why the information was not shared.

The Philippines inquiry

The scrutiny of the Met has emerged alongside a separate inquiry abroad. Thomas Markle Jr says he reported material to police in the Philippines and to the FBI. He claims he found it among his father’s belongings. He handed four boxes of items, including computers, phones, hard drives and old videotapes, to police in Cebu. Officers there have now obtained a court warrant to examine the devices. Nothing has been established about what, if anything, they contain.

Thomas Markle Sr, who is reportedly living in Florida after a stroke and a leg amputation, has called the claims “sick lies” and denies ever possessing such material. His daughter Samantha Markle has dismissed the allegations as “fake” and said she believes it is “a set-up”.

What happens next

The Met says it intends to make referrals to relevant overseas law enforcement agencies about the letter’s allegations, a process it expects to finish “in the coming days”. Those referrals do not amount to findings of wrongdoing. The IOPC investigation is about the Met’s own conduct, not about whether the claims against Mr Markle are true. The IOPC has not said how long it will take.

Explore more on this topic with Vexel Search.