A letter reporting alleged child abuse by the Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father, Thomas Markle, was sent to the Metropolitan Police by his first wife in 2019, it has been reported.
Roslyn Loveless, who was married to Mr Markle from 1964 to 1975, is said to have detailed allegations against him in the letter. She died in 2024.
Mr Markle, 82, has rejected the suggestion that his former wife wrote it and said he believed the episode was “a set-up”.
“This shocks me. I’m not buying it,” he said. “Roslyn and I broke up years ago but I was good to her in the divorce.”
He said Ms Loveless had suffered from alcohol problems and claimed she would not have written such a letter without being prompted. He added that he wanted to see the document and questioned why the allegations were emerging now.
“Why is my son trying to destroy me? Why is Meghan dumping on me?” he said.
Mr Markle said he found it difficult to believe his first wife would accuse him of being a paedophile, adding that she was no longer alive to respond to the claims about the letter.
“I think this was something that was maybe put in place to discredit me after my death. I’m alive and I am calling b*******,” he said.
Thomas Markle denies child sex allegations
Mr Markle has also denied allegations being investigated by authorities in the Philippines, where he is accused of hoarding child sex images. He told the Mail on Sunday that he had paid for sex in the country but denied having sex with underage girls.
He said he would “do whatever it takes” to clear his name after being accused of child sex crimes.
The allegations were reported to police last week by his son, Thomas Markle Jr, who claimed he found child abuse images on computers left behind at his father’s home in the Philippines when Mr Markle returned to the United States earlier this year.
Mr Markle Jr said he had been “horrified” by the material and would not speak to his father again unless called to give evidence against him.
Mr Markle has described the allegations as “sick lies” and said he was “very upset that my son is making these allegations against me”. His daughter Samantha, who is his main caregiver, also denied the claims and accused her brother of fabricating them for financial gain.
The letter has prompted questions about why the Metropolitan Police allegedly held it for more than seven years. The Duchess of Sussex initially said she learned of the allegations in 2018 through a letter passed to her by Met detectives, while the force has since said it alerted her in 2019.
The duchess said she had been given assurances that the allegations were being investigated. She described them as “more sickening than one could ever imagine” and said her thoughts were with any children who may have been harmed.
Ms Loveless and Mr Markle had two children together, Samantha and Thomas Jr, before he fathered Meghan with Doria Ragland in 1981. Mr Markle and Ms Ragland were married from 1979 to 1987 and separated when their daughter was about two.
Days after Prince Archie’s birth in May 2019, Ms Loveless described her former husband as an “awful father” and said he should not be allowed to meet his grandson. Mr Markle dismissed her comments at the time as “not valid”.
