Letter making claims about Meghan's father written by his ex-wife, BBC understands

A letter sent to London's Metropolitan Police containing claims about the Duchess of Sussex's father was written by his former wife, Roslyn Loveless, the BBC understands. The Met confirmed on Saturday that it received the letter in 2019 and shared it with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the time.

Loveless, who has since died, was the mother of Meghan's half-siblings, Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr. She divorced Thomas Markle in 1975, four years before he married Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland. Meghan, born in 1981, is the only daughter of Markle and Ragland.

On Friday, Meghan confirmed she had previously been told about "disturbing allegations" concerning her father. In a statement, she said she was "deeply distressed" and that her thoughts were with any children who may have been harmed. She said she hoped people would understand why she had largely cut off contact with her father and did not allow him to have contact with her children. She has been estranged from him since 2018.

The BBC understands Meghan broke contact with him last year, telling him she and the authorities knew he had abused young girls. Sources close to the duchess said she warned him in a letter, sent while he was in hospital in the Philippines after a leg amputation, that he would never meet his grandchildren.

Reports say images of child sexual abuse said to belong to Markle, 82, were found at his former home in the Philippines. Markle, who is based in the United States, denies all such allegations. His son has said he found the material and contacted the FBI in July; the FBI says it is aware of the allegations, and officials in the Philippines say their anti-human trafficking and child sexual exploitation task force is investigating. The Met says it did not pass the letter's contents on to other law enforcement agencies and is now reviewing how it handled the matter.