Meghan Sussex Says Police Were Alerted to Allegations Against Her Father in 2018

Meghan Sussex has revealed that British authorities received disturbing allegations against her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., in 2018, years before his son reported the discovery of suspected child sexual abuse material in the Philippines.

For eight years, the British press has criticised Meghan for refusing to reconcile with her father. Now, her statement provides important context for the boundaries she maintained.

On October 22, The Sun reported that Thomas Markle Jr. had contacted authorities after allegedly discovering suspected child sexual abuse material among belongings attributed to his father. Thomas Sr., 82, has denied the allegations, and authorities have not announced any criminal charges.

The following day, Meghan addressed the reports in a statement to People, explaining that she had received assurances that British authorities were investigating allegations concerning her father.

“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.”

— Meghan Sussex, in a statement to People magazine

Meghan Sussex Says British Authorities Received Allegations in 2018

I applaud Meghan for standing firm. For years, she faced demands to forgive her father, welcome him back into her life and allow him access to her children. Yet she was dealing with information the public did not have.

Her statement is a reminder that outsiders rarely know the full circumstances behind someone else’s family decisions. And perhaps a few royal commentators should consider that before passing judgement on a woman who chose to protect her children.

The Police Were Alerted — So What Happened Next?

This is the part of Meghan’s statement that deserves serious attention. She says allegations were referred to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2018, and she was assured they were being investigated.

That raises legitimate questions about what authorities did with the information. What allegations did the original letter contain? Did investigators assess their credibility and pursue further enquiries? Those are questions for the relevant authorities, not for Meghan. Importantly, the existence of the 2018 letter does not establish that its allegations concerned the specific material reportedly discovered in the Philippines in 2026.

Nor does it demonstrate that police ignored the allegations or failed to investigate them. We simply do not know enough about what happened.

Meghan says she trusted the authorities to act. Once the police received the allegations, they had a responsibility to assess the information and determine what investigative steps were necessary. Meghan’s responsibility was to protect her family, not conduct a criminal investigation herself.

What Did the Palace Know?

The involvement of Royalty and Specialist Protection raises another important question. Meghan’s statement confirms that someone sent the letter to a specialist police unit responsible for royal protection. However, she did not say whether senior royals or Buckingham Palace officials knew about its contents.

Given the circumstances surrounding Meghan and Harry’s 2018 wedding, we should ask whether the police shared this information with palace officials and, if so, what action they took.

For years, royal reporting relied heavily on anonymous palace sources to explain supposedly private disagreements involving the Sussexes. Yet despite British authorities receiving serious allegations concerning Meghan’s father in 2018, the public remained unaware of this important context surrounding her estrangement.

That silence does not prove a cover-up. It does, however, demonstrate how incomplete the public narrative surrounding her estrangement may have been.

Where Are Piers Morgan, Dan Wootton and the Other Thomas Markle Defenders?

This is where the British media’s treatment of Meghan should be heavily scrutinised. As we discussed in a previous article, Piers Morgan spent years weaponising her estrangement from Thomas as evidence of her supposed lack of compassion.

Dan Wootton has spent years publicly attacking Meghan Sussex, even weaponising her father’s medical emergency in December 2025 to criticise her. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail and numerous television outlets repeatedly gave Thomas Markle a platform, portraying him as a heartbroken father abandoned by his daughter.

The Daily Mail played a particularly prominent role in promoting this narrative, even after Meghan successfully sued its parent company, Associated Newspapers, for breaching her privacy and copyright by publishing excerpts from her private letter to her father. Its journalist Caroline Graham developed such a close personal relationship with Thomas that he informed her about his impending leg amputation before telling his own children.

Meanwhile, Meghan faced repeated demands to explain her estrangement from Thomas, with some commentators even pressuring her to allow him access to Archie and Lilibet. Yet reports about Thomas’s relationships with his other grandchildren received nowhere near the same attention.

That is what I find particularly objectionable. Why were journalists so comfortable demanding that a mother give an estranged relative access to her children when they did not know the full circumstances behind her decision?

The answer is that they had already decided who the villain was. Thomas was the abandoned father. Meghan was the cruel daughter. It made for convenient headlines, regardless of how much information was missing. Now Meghan has provided important context, and those same commentators should consider whether they owe her an apology.

Stop Making Meghan Responsible for Allegations Against Her Father

There is another troubling development: attempts to turn Meghan’s knowledge of the 2018 letter into an accusation against her. Some of Meghan’s full-time critics have suggested that because she was informed of allegations, she should somehow be held responsible for what happened afterwards.

That reasoning is disgusting. Meghan says the allegations had already been referred to the police before the letter was shared with her. What exactly was she supposed to do? Conduct her own criminal investigation? Publicly release unproven accusations? Interfere with enquiries she had been assured were underway?

None of those would have been appropriate alternatives to allowing the authorities to do their jobs. This story concerns possible crimes against children. The priority must be establishing the facts, protecting any victims and ensuring a proper investigation. It is not an opportunity to manufacture another accusation against Meghan Sussex.

Meghan Had Every Right to Protect Her Children

Meghan did not owe the British press an explanation for keeping her father out of her children’s lives. She made a decision she believed would protect her family, and no criminal conviction is necessary to justify maintaining those boundaries.

For years, commentators who knew little about her private circumstances confidently condemned that decision. Now that Meghan has provided more context, perhaps they should examine their own conduct instead of searching for another reason to criticise her.

The priority must remain the children who may have suffered harm, the evidence investigators can establish and the responsibility of the authorities to pursue the truth.

Meghan is not responsible for the allegations against her father. The people who spent years demanding that she answer for him should remember that.