Met Police watchdog investigation, USA News: Britain’s police watchdog has confirmed it will carry out an independent investigation into the Metropolitan Police’s handling of a 2019 letter containing serious allegations about Thomas Markle, the Duchess of Sussex’s father. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced its decision after the Met made a voluntary conduct referral regarding its failure to share the contents of the letter, which included a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom, with relevant overseas law enforcement bodies.
An IOPC spokesperson told GB News that following a voluntary conduct referral from the Met Police, an independent investigation is required into its failure to pass on allegations of serious offending, contained in a letter 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 document 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 suggested they were writing to raise concerns relating to the security of the Duchess of Sussex, though the letter did not actually contain information specifically related to security matters, instead containing claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom.
Commander Slonecki confirmed that the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards recently conducted a preliminary review of the force’s actions, leading 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 noted 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 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 all signs point to a possible sex offender of the grossest kind. Mr. Markle Sr. has strenuously denied all the claims against him, dismissing them as sick lies and vowing to do whatever it takes to clear his name.
The Duchess of Sussex stated 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. She expressed deep distress at the news and noted that her long-standing estrangement from her father was taken to protect her children.
