Meghan: Police Shared 2019 Markle Letter With Royal Couple

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed on Saturday that it received a letter in 2019 containing claims about Thomas Markle.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson told CBS News that the document made a number of claims regarding the father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. The police stated that they forwarded the letter to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. No other law enforcement agencies received the specific details of the allegations at that time.

The confirmation follows reports this week from The Sun, which said Thomas Markle Jr. reported his father to authorities in the Philippines. The younger Markle allegedly discovered child abuse materials in storage boxes at the family home. Philippine authorities are currently dealing with Markle over alleged possession of child sexual abuse materials. Markle denied the allegations in a report by The Daily Mail on Friday.

Meghan issued a statement to CBS News on Friday saying she was deeply distressed by the reports. She stated that she had known of the allegations since 2018 and that they were shared with U.K. authorities at that time. Her statement noted that a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2018. She said the letter was subsequently shared with her and contained troubling and disturbing allegations against her father. Meghan said she was given assurances that the matters were being investigated.

The duchess added that she kept her distance from her father to protect her children. She said her decision not to allow him contact with the children had one reason, which was to protect them. She noted that certain media publications had distorted the story over the years.

The two accounts differ on the date of the letter, with Meghan citing 2018 and Scotland Yard citing 2019. A spokesman for the duchess told BBC News that any discrepancy of a few months was an understandable consequence of the passage of time.

The Metropolitan Police said it will review how the matter was handled in 2019. As part of that process, the force will decide whether to refer itself to the police watchdog.