Scotland Yard says it received a letter in 2019 making a "number of claims" against Thomas Markle and passed it to the Sussexes' office.
A Scotland Yard spokesperson confirmed to CBS News on Saturday that the Metropolitan Police received a letter in 2019 that made a "number of claims" against Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
According to the police, the letter was passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess "for their awareness." The force added that the details of the allegations were not shared with other law enforcement agencies.
Scotland Yard also said the Met will review how the matter was handled in 2019 and decide whether to refer itself to the police watchdog.
The confirmation follows Friday reports that Markle, who is estranged from his daughter, is under investigation by authorities in the Philippines over alleged possession of child sexual abuse materials. The British tabloid The Sun was the first to report the allegations, according to CBS News.
The Sun's report said Markle's son, Thomas Markle Jr., allegedly found child abuse materials in storage boxes at his father's home in the Philippines. The Daily Mail reported Friday that Markle had denied the allegations.
In a statement to CBS News on Saturday, a Philippine National Police spokesperson said the investigation began after Markle's personal items were turned over to law enforcement by his son. Col. Allen Rae Co said investigators "are looking into the nature and origin of the materials and whether these may be connected to any violation of law." He added that U.S. authorities had offered assistance should Philippine authorities decide they need it as the investigation proceeds.
In a statement sent to CBS News on Friday, Meghan said she was "deeply distressed" by the reports. She said she had known of the allegations against her father since 2018 and that they had been shared with U.K. authorities at that time.
She said a letter was sent in 2018 to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection, and later shared with her. In her words, it "made troubling and disturbing allegations" against her father, and she was given assurances they were being investigated.
Meghan also said the distance from her father, and her decision not to allow him contact with her children, was "to protect them." She criticized what she called "certain media publications' distortion over the years." She recently moved back to Britain with Prince Harry and their children, according to CBS News.
Scotland Yard's Saturday statement dated the letter to 2019, while Meghan's statement referred to 2018. A spokesman for the duchess, responding to the discrepancy in comments to CBS News partner BBC News, said "any discrepancy of a few months" was "an understandable consequence of that passage of time."
The source material does not indicate whether the letter Meghan described and the one Scotland Yard confirmed are the same document, and it does not detail what the letter alleged. The Philippine investigation is ongoing, and no charges were mentioned in the reporting.
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