Thomas Markle Sr.’s first wife warned authorities about him years before he became the subject of a police investigation, sources said.
Roslyn Loveless, who was married to the former TV lighting director from 1964 to 1975, sent a letter to London’s Metropolitan Police in 2019 detailing allegations against her ex-husband, the sources said. Loveless, who shared Samantha Markle, 61, and Thomas Markle Jr., 60, with Thomas Sr., died in 2024. The contents of the letter have not yet been made public.
The letter was subsequently sent to Meghan Markle by police, and the Duchess of Sussex has said she was “deeply distressed” by the claims. A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex clarified Saturday that Meghan received the letter in January 2019, not 2018 as she had initially recalled.
“In recalling events from more than seven years ago, without the benefit of a diary entry or contemporaneous record, it is understandable that she may have been mistaken by a few months,” he said. “I think it is reasonable to recognize that she is doing her best to recall the precise timing of events that were not diarized at the time, and that any discrepancy of a few months is an understandable consequence of that passage of time.”
Meghan, 45, previously stated she had been made aware of a letter sent to British police and other authorities that “made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.”
“I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them,” she added. “I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.”
“My thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed,” she continued.
Sources said that Meghan was advised not to speak publicly about the matter for fear of jeopardizing a legal case. The revelation of Loveless’s 2019 letter comes after The Sun broke the news that Thomas Sr., 82, is being investigated over a large stash of child pornography reportedly found at his former home in the Philippines. His son Thomas Jr. Turned the material over to police this week, the newspaper reported.
Thomas Sr. Has vehemently denied the allegations, calling them “sick lies” in an interview Friday.
“I’m shocked, I’m hurt and I’m very upset that my son is making these accusations against me,” he said. “I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of.”
Thomas Jr. Called his father’s denial “incredible” and insisted the evidence would reveal the truth.
“I’m sure the huge piles of evidence I’ve taken to the police today will reveal the truth once the police experts examine it,” he said Friday.
Samantha Markle has also defended their father, accusing Thomas Jr. Of fabricating the allegations for financial gain.
“There is no merit in these disgusting allegations whatsoever and my brother is disgusting for making them up. He wants to destroy our dad. Shame on him,” she said Thursday.
The family fracture extends back years. After divorcing Loveless, Thomas Sr. Married Doria Ragland in 1979. The couple welcomed Meghan and divorced in 1987, having separated when their daughter was about 2. Days after the birth of Meghan’s first child, Prince Archie, in May 2019, Loveless publicly described her ex-husband as an “awful father” who should never be allowed to meet his grandson.
Speaking to The Mirror, Loveless alleged that Thomas Sr. Cheated on her, including with one of her relatives, subjected her to abusive, foul-mouthed outbursts and withheld money to the point that she resorted to shoplifting food. She also spoke about his drug use and claimed he had sent money to a woman in the Philippines to help support her family.
“He told me before he was supporting a family over there financially,” she said. “He has always lived a dysfunctional life. My kids suffered as a result and I’m sure Meghan has too.”
Loveless said that while he was never violent, he would “often lose his temper.”
“Whenever I asked for help to feed the kids or buy diapers, he’d scream, ‘Get a f–king job’ and then laugh,” she said.
She added, “Knowing Tom as I do, Meghan would be a fool to have him in her life. Repeatedly he has shown to Meghan he cannot be trusted. She must know that now. I speak not out of bitterness, my life moved on many years ago, but out of concern.”
Thomas Sr. Acknowledged cocaine use in an interview with the National Enquirer in October 2018, admitting, “In the industry, I worked in back in the 70s and 80s, there was cocaine around a lot. And I’m sure that I had an occasional sniff of cocaine.” He also said he had traveled to the Philippines and frequented the now-defunct Playboy Club in Manila’s red-light district, though he denied paying for sex. At the time of Loveless’s 2019 interview, Thomas Sr. Dismissed her allegations as “not valid.”
