A letter written by Thomas Markle Sr.’s first wife years before her death has thrust the Markle family into a deeply troubling new chapter, after allegations she reportedly raised about her former husband reached London’s Metropolitan Police in 2019 and were subsequently passed to Meghan Markle, raising uncomfortable questions about what the woman knew, why she chose to contact authorities, and why her account has resurfaced now.

Roslyn Loveless, who married Thomas in 1964 and divorced him in 1975, died in 2024 at the age of 80, but her story has returned to the headlines following reports that she sent a letter to police containing allegations about her former husband. According to Page Six, the letter was eventually shared with Meghan, who has since said she was deeply distressed by the claims. The letter’s full contents have not been made public, and the allegations it reportedly contained have not been established as fact.

What makes the revelation particularly striking is that Loveless was not an outside observer who had encountered Thomas briefly. she was his first wife and the mother of his two older children, Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr., who were born in 1964 and 1966 respectively. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1975, years before Thomas married Doria Ragland and became the father of Meghan, meaning Loveless had known him long before his youngest daughter became a global celebrity.

The Marriage That Ended in 1975

Loveless and Thomas married while they were young, and their relationship ended after approximately eleven years. Public accounts provide some details about the breakdown of the marriage, but they do not establish one definitive reason for the divorce.

Loveless later made serious criticisms of her former husband, reportedly accusing him of infidelity and describing him as an “awful father.”

In a 2019 interview with the Mirror, she warned Meghan against allowing Thomas back into her life, saying: “Knowing Tom as I do, Meghan would be a fool to have him in her life.”

She also said: “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.”

Those were Loveless’s own reported allegations and opinions, rather than independently established findings about their marriage. There is also no verified public account establishing the precise circumstances surrounding her death in 2024, so it would be misleading to suggest that her death was connected to the letter or to the allegations involving Thomas.

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The Letter That Reached Meghan Markle

The most consequential part of the story concerns the letter itself.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed on October 24, 2026, that it had received a letter in January 2019 containing claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom. The force said the letter had been sent to its Protection Command because of concerns relating to Meghan’s security, and that it was subsequently passed to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s office for their awareness.

The Met also confirmed that the details of the allegations were not shared with other law enforcement agencies and that it was reviewing its handling of the matter, including whether a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct was necessary.

In her statement addressing her father’s accusation, Meghan had initially recalled being informed about the letter in 2018, but the police review established that it was received in January 2019. Markle’s representatives have reached out to the media and acknowledged that she may have misremembered when she received the letter.

In response to the allegations now being reported, Meghan said she was “deeply distressed” and explained that her decision to keep her father away from her children was intended to protect them. She added: “I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.”

A Family History With Unanswered Questions

The letter has become particularly significant because it reportedly predates the current investigation involving Thomas Markle, but its existence does not establish that the allegations were true or that any particular offense occurred.

Thomas has strongly denied the current accusations, describing them as lies. The allegations remain subject to investigation, and no conclusion about his guilt should be drawn from the letter alone.

Loveless is no longer alive to explain exactly why she wrote to police, what information she intended to convey, or whether she expected the letter eventually to reach Meghan. Her earlier public comments reveal that she had strong concerns about Thomas’s behavior as a father, but the full contents of her letter remain unknown.

For Meghan, the revelation brings another painful dimension to an already fractured relationship with her estranged father. For the wider Markle family, it places the history of Thomas’s first marriage back under scrutiny. But at the same time it leaves important questions about the letter’s contents and the police response unanswered.

A letter written years ago can suddenly take on a whole new meaning when it resurfaces, and Loveless’s reported letter has done exactly that, bringing an old family dispute back into the spotlight and raising fresh questions about the allegations, denials, and details that remain unresolved.