// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Police watchdog to investigate Met over letter about Meghan's father
The Met gave the letter to Meghan in 2019, but didn't share with other law enforcement agencies
The UK police watchdog is to investigate the Metropolitan Police's handing of a letter containing allegations against Thomas Markle that was handed to his daughter, the Duchess of Sussex, in 2019.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it had decided an investigation was required into the force's "failure to pass on allegations of serious offending... to relevant overseas authorities at the time".
The letter, written by Markle's first wife Roslyn Loveless, is believed to have contained claims about Meghan's father.
He has strongly denied recent allegations that he had possessed images of child abuse, describing them as "sick lies".
On Thursday the Met said it had voluntarily referred itself to the IOPC.
The letter at the heart of the IOPC investigation was sent to the Met's royal protection team by Loveless, who divorced Thomas Markle in 1975 and died in 2024.
The handwritten letter was then passed to Meghan in January 2019, with the duchess saying last week that it had "made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father".
Meghan did not provide any details but said it had given her sufficient reason to not visit Thomas Markle and not allow him to meet his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet.
Scotland Yard said the letter contained claims about offending outside the UK and that it had been forwarded to "the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness".