Scotland Yard admits holding 2019 letter with claims against Meghan's father

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed on Saturday that it received a letter in 2019 containing a number of claims about Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson provided the information to CBS News, verifying the existence of the document that had previously remained out of the public record. The letter contained specific allegations against Markle regarding his conduct.

Police stated that they forwarded the letter to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. The details of the allegations were not shared with other law enforcement agencies at that time.

The confirmation follows reports published this week detailing the current legal status of Markle in the Philippines. The Sun reported on Thursday that Markle Jr., his son, reported his father to authorities after finding child abuse materials in storage boxes at their family home.

By Friday, it was reported that Philippine authorities were dealing with Markle over alleged possession of child sexual abuse materials. The Daily Mail noted that Markle denied the allegations in response to those reports.

Meghan issued a statement to CBS News on Friday describing herself as deeply distressed by the news. 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. It said the letter made troubling and disturbing allegations against her father and that she was given assurances the matter was being investigated.

The duchess said she had kept her distance from her father to protect her children. She stated that her decision to limit contact had one reason: to protect them, despite media distortion 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.

Scotland Yard announced that the Met will review how the matter was handled in 2019. As part of that process, the police force will decide whether to refer itself to the police watchdog.