The Metropolitan Police have admitted that a letter sent in 2019, which claimed Thomas Markle Sr. had sexually abused a child, was misplaced and that they subsequently asked Meghan Markle for a copy.
The correspondence, alleging the former lighting director had abused a child and travelled to the Philippines and Thailand for that purpose, was originally forwarded to the Met's Protection Command and then to the Duchess's office.
Meghan Markle said she severed all contact with her father after receiving the letter, shortly after her wedding to Prince Harry.
The force acknowledged it failed to act on the information and said it would "review its handling" of the allegations, as first reported in an exclusive investigation by The Sun.
The Met also confirmed it did not share the letter's details with other law-enforcement bodies.
According to The Times, the original document was lost, forcing officers to request a duplicate from Meghan, who still possessed the letter and provided it.
Earlier statements from the Met indicated the letter was sent to raise concerns about the Duchess's security, addressed to the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC), the unit that evaluates obsessive threats to royals and VIPs.
The Duchess's statement said the letter, received in 2018, contained "troubling and disturbing" allegations and was passed on to the Met's Royalty and Specialist Protection before reaching her.
She reiterated that the letter made serious accusations against her father and that she was assured an investigation was underway.
In its response, the Met neither confirmed nor denied the letter's existence, noting it was aware of media reports about a 2018 letter and was conducting internal enquiries.
The allegations relate to incidents said to have taken place abroad, which may have limited the Met's jurisdiction to investigate.
The force declined to answer whether any information from the letter was forwarded to foreign legal agencies.
Reports indicate the Met is attempting to contact the officers responsible for protecting Meghan and Harry at the time.
The Sun also reported that Meghan told her estranged father in a 2024 letter that she knew he had abused young girls and would not allow him to see his grandchildren.
Meghan said she learned of the accusations in 2019, received assurances of an investigation, and was warned that speaking out could jeopardise any legal case.
Thomas Markle Sr. received the letter while hospitalised in the Philippines after a leg amputation in December 2025; Meghan arranged for hospital staff to deliver it to his bedside, where he signed a receipt and was filmed reading it repeatedly.
Markle Sr. has denied possessing any child sexual-abuse material. Philippine police are probing child-sex images found at his home, and Interior Minister Jonvic Remulla described him as a "possible sex offender of the grossest kind".
He is under formal investigation by the Philippines National Police's Women and Children Protection Centre, with potential expansion to the United States and Mexico.
FBI agents have expressed interest, citing possible offenses during his time in Chicago, Hollywood and Pennsylvania, while Mexican authorities are said to be monitoring the case linked to his residence in Rosarito.
Sources in Cebu City, where Markle recently lived, suggested the discoveries might be only "the tip of a huge iceberg". An inventory listing 80 items that could contain thousands of files has been handed to Filipino police.
The probe began after Markle's son found a child-abuse video on a phone among his father's discarded belongings. The son claims the video prompted the investigation.
Markle Sr. maintains he never downloaded such material, alleging his son staged a "set-up" by restricting his computer access after they moved to Cebu.
He also denied ever being photographed in sexual acts, stating, "I have never been in a photograph like that."
