Meghan Markle reportedly wanted to speak publicly after being told about allegations of child sexual abuse involving her father, Thomas Markle, but was advised against doing so by Metropolitan Police officers assigned to protect the royal family.
The claim follows confirmation from Scotland Yard that, in January 2019, it gave the Duchess of Sussex, 45, a letter containing allegations against Thomas Markle, 82. The force has acknowledged that it did not notify other law-enforcement agencies at the time.
In the seven-page handwritten letter, Thomas Markle’s first wife, Roslyn Loveless, accused the former Hollywood lighting technician of child sexual abuse. She also alleged that he frequently travelled to the Philippines and Thailand, saying he had claimed that “12-year-olds are legal there”.
The letter, written by Loveless, who died in 2024, was reviewed by the Met’s Royalty and Specialist Protection unit before being passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Kensington Palace for “awareness”.
It has now been reported that Meghan wanted to address the allegations publicly, which she described last week as “troubling and disturbing”.
However, one of her Royalty and Specialist Protection, or RaSP, bodyguards is said to have told her: “Leave it with us, we’ll investigate it.”
The officer reportedly also advised Meghan not to make a public statement while she was facing criticism for ending contact with her father without providing an explanation. Thomas Markle did not attend the Sussexes’ wedding in 2018.
The Met, which did not investigate the allegations because they were said to have taken place overseas, is still trying to identify the officer, according to The Times.
A young Meghan Markle with her father, Thomas Markle. The Duchess of Sussex said last week that allegations against him were passed to her after a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police in January 2019
Pictured: Thomas Markle lying on a bed with his arm around a fully clothed young woman. She appears alone and naked in several other images
Although Harry and Meghan’s protection officers were aware of the serious claims, several senior advisers working with the couple at Kensington Palace were reportedly not told about the letter.
Those said to have been unaware included Samantha Cohen, a former aide to Queen Elizabeth II who served as the Sussexes’ private secretary, and Jason Knauf, then joint communications secretary to Harry and Meghan as well as William and Kate.
One source said Harry and Meghan were “very private and tended not to share stuff with others”.
Aides close to the King, who was then the Prince of Wales, are also believed not to have been informed.
A source within the Met said on Saturday that the RaSP officers who reviewed the 2019 letter appeared not to have understood the seriousness of the allegations or escalated them through the chain of command.
The source said: “These people are not detectives and have a tendency to be quite linear in their thinking.
“RaSP would only have been interested in what it meant for the security of the Duke and Duchess [of Sussex]. Having assessed that, they should have thought about the wider consequences.”
The Metropolitan Police has faced questions over why it did not alert international law-enforcement agencies, including the FBI.
The force has referred itself to the police watchdog over its “failure to pass on allegations of serious offending… to relevant overseas authorities at the time”.
The latest development comes after police on Saturday seized material described as child pornography from Thomas Markle’s abandoned storage unit, following information provided by Our News Outlet.
Sex-crimes investigators and forensic specialists raided the storage facility near Markle’s former home in Mexico shortly after midnight. One agent was reportedly heard saying “Ay cabron”, a Spanish expression meaning “oh, damn”, while examining the material.
Harry and Meghan during a visit to Nottingham in October this year. Meghan has reportedly been advised not to speak publicly about allegations involving her father, which she learned of in January 2019
Pictured: Jason Knauf, formerly joint communications secretary to Harry and Meghan and William and Kate, was reportedly not told about the 2019 letter
Investigators said the seized material included magazines depicting the sexual abuse of children and photographs of naked young Asian women.
Our reporters said they discovered the hoard last Thursday after travelling to Rosarito, where the Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father lived for a decade. Rental receipts indicated that he leased the 5ft-by-10ft unit in 2017.
A search warrant authorised investigators to look for “evidence consisting of child sexual abuse material” and “the alleged commission of the crime of human trafficking in its aggravated form”. Officers seized a computer, USB drives, VHS tapes and magazines before placing an official notice across the unit.
The raid at Baja Storage, a gated depot, followed a warning from Our News Outlet that Unit 22 allegedly contained images of child sexual abuse. Hours earlier, the Mail photographed Markle being moved between care homes in Lakeland, Florida, in a wheelchair.
Markle, who has undergone a leg amputation and has been diagnosed with a cognitive condition, was accompanied by his daughter Samantha and her boyfriend, Mark Phillips.
Our reporters said they learned about the storage unit last week. The 82-year-old allegedly fell behind on the rent two years ago and moved to the Philippines early last year without clearing out the facility.
Staff at Baja Storage were reportedly unaware of the contents and expressed disgust after the material was discovered.
Alongside family keepsakes, investigators reportedly found strips of 35mm negatives showing voyeuristic images of children on a beach and dusty VHS tapes labelled “Boys – Brother and Sister -Russian XX” and “Manila Nites”. The unit also contained old computers and a paper plate marked “DARK WEB” in red ink, alongside several URLs.
Our News Outlet said it accessed Markle’s storage locker after he fell behind on rental payments. The reported contents included photographs of Asian females who appeared particularly young, as well as books and magazines that sexualised children as “Lolitas”
Mexican Guardia Nacional sex-crimes investigators raid Thomas Markle’s storage locker in Rosarito on Saturday morning, hours after Our News Outlet reported that it contained alleged child pornography
A Guardia Nacional official carries a cardboard box during Saturday’s raid at Thomas Markle’s storage facility
FBI agents based in Tampa, near the senior-living facility where Markle is staying in Florida after having his left leg amputated in December, are among those involved in the case.
FBI officials based in Southern California are also assisting with the investigation.
According to the warrant obtained by Our News Outlet, Mexican state prosecutors asked Estefany Moreno Gutierrez, a judge in the Judicial Branch of Baja California, to approve a search during a closed hearing on Friday. At about 4pm, a small group of uniformed officers arrived at the depot and asked to speak with its owner.
As the evening progressed, additional officers from Mexico’s State Investigation Agency arrived, while soldiers from the Mexican National Guard stood guard outside. Officers showed the overnight caretaker the warrant, and more than a dozen agents entered the facility at 12.48am. The operation ended by 3am, when the convoy departed.
The discovery represents another extraordinary turn in a case that could result in a prison sentence of 10 to 12 years if Markle is charged and convicted.
The former lighting director moved to Rosarito in 2011.
Markle moved to the Philippines in early 2025, where he is also reportedly under investigation after his son alerted police.
Thomas Markle Jr, 60, allegedly found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child-sex images among boxes his father had shipped to the Far East, according to The Sun.
Markle lost a leg after developing a blood clot and has recently been diagnosed with a cognitive condition. He denies the allegations against him
Markle has previously dismissed the allegations as “sick lies”. On Saturday, Samantha Markle’s boyfriend told us: “The only statement that you’re going to get is that Thomas Markle doesn’t even have fingerprints on the stuff in the Philippines,” he said.
“He didn’t even ever touch it the whole time it was there, he can’t be charged.
“Markle never had it in Mexico either… The FBI has no jurisdiction in Mexico. This is all bulls***.”
Thomas Markle Sr told Our News Outlet: “I had no storage units in Rosarito!”
In a statement last week, Meghan said: “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.
“In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.
“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.
“I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.
“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.”
The Duchess of Sussex has not commented on the reported developments in Mexico.
Our News Outlet has contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment.
READ MORE: Thomas Markle’s Mexican storage unit raided by authorities after Our News Outlet found alleged child pornography inside… as one officer reportedly recoils at sight of trove
READ MORE: Why did the Sussexes continue blaming the press for Meghan’s rift with her father despite reportedly knowing about the allegations against him? RICHARD EDEN examines the “extraordinary discrepancies” in the Duchess’s account
