UK police confirm receipt of letter alleging child sex abuse against megan Markle's father

🗞️ Story file #868

UK police confirm receipt of letter alleging child sex abuse against megan Markle's father

Oct 23, 7 AM ET to Oct 26, 9 PM ET

19outlets carried it
🫏10 · 4 · 5🐘left · center · right
3.6 dayson the front pages
21front pages at once, at its peak
49 minof TV captions
22people retold it online
3 of 3parts of a saga

👣 How this story traveled: from the front pages that broke it, out through TV, radio and the shows, into what people retold and what fact-checkers examined, and on into the saga it is part of. Everything here is matched to the story by our tools, so a link can be wrong; the trackers' pages say how each is made.

Oct 23, 7 AM ETfirst on a front page: CBS News
Oct 23, 8 PM ETfirst on TV: BBC News
Oct 24, 8 AM ETretold online by 22 people
Oct 24, 10 AM ETpeak: on 21 front pages

the front pages that ran it, hour by hour

Front pages carrying it at each hourly run, Oct 23, 7 AM to Oct 26, 9 PM ET (peak 18), by the outlets' lean: left · center · right

Who carried it and when: each outlet in the order it picked the story up, a bar for each headline from when we first saw it on the front page to when we last did, in the outlet's lean color (dashed: not rated); a dot marks a new headline. Beneath, its captions on TV, the radio newscasts that carried it (bigger: the lead) and when people were found retelling it. Hover for details.

📌 linked by aggregators: Google News

💬 quoted: “SNL UK” “late first wife sent Met letter warning of child sex abuse” “deeply distressed” 2 “possible sex offender of the grossest kind” 3 “abuse images” “sex offender of grossest kind” “sex offender of the grossest kind” 2 “deeply distressing”

🗣️ only one side says: 🐘 child porn

✏️ 12 outlets ran more than one headline on it (reworded, or a follow-up)

ABC News (2 wordings): “Meghan Markle 'deeply distressed' amid report her father is under investigation” → “Meghan Markle speaks on allegations against father”
BBC (3 wordings): “Meghan says she was informed about 'disturbing allegations' against her father in 2018” → “Meghan broke contact with father in letter citing abuse claims”
Breitbart (2 wordings): “Meghan Markle Says She Has Known About Child Porn Allegations Against Her Father Since 2018” → “Meghan Markle Response to Probe into Child Sex Abuse Material Found”
CBS News (2 wordings): “Meghan "deeply distressed" as dad faces child abuse material probe” → “U.K. police confirm it received letter with claims against Meghan's father”
CNN (2 wordings): “Meghan ‘deeply distressed’ over child sex abuse image allegations against her estranged father” → “Meghan ‘deeply distressed’ over child sex abuse image allegations against father”
New York Post (14 wordings): “Meghan Markle revealed that 2018 child porn allegations against her father, Thomas Markle Sr., caused her to cut ties to protect her family.” → “Meghan Markle, Prince Harry under microscope as sick new details about her father come to light”
News Nation (2 wordings): “Meghan Markle calls child porn allegations against father 'deeply distressing'” → “Meghan Markle told father she knew of child sexual allegations in final letter”
Reuters (3 wordings): “Philippines investigates Thomas Markle, father of Meghan, after child sexual abuse images claims” → “UK's Met police says it sent allegations letter to Meghan and not other forces”
The Independent (5 wordings): “Meghan ‘deeply distressed’ by indecent image allegations against father Thomas Markle” → “Meghan cut off contact with her father Thomas Markle last year over sex abuse claims”
The Sun (8 wordings): “MEG DAD CHILD SEX PROBE Meghan's dad Thomas Markle probed over vast stash of child sex images after being reported to cops by his own son” → “LETTER CLAIM Thomas Markle’s 'late first wife sent Met letter warning of child sex abuse'”
USA Today (2 wordings): “Meghan speaks out about child porn allegations against her dad” → “'SNL UK' takes on allegations against Duchess Meghan's father”
Yahoo News (4 wordings): “Meghan Markle addresses allegations of child abuse images linked to her father” → “Meghan Markle 'deeply distressed' by allegations against her father”

Every outlet's first headline (19), left to right by AllSides rating

HuffPost Meghan Markle Is ‘Deeply Distressed’ Over Child Sex Abuse Material Allegations Against Her Dad Oct 23, 12 PM ET
The Daily Beast Meghan Markle’s Estranged Dad Under Investigation Over Disturbing Discovery Oct 22, 7 PM ET
ABC News Meghan Markle 'deeply distressed' amid report her father is under investigation Oct 23, 5 PM ET
CBS News Meghan "deeply distressed" as dad faces child abuse material probe Oct 23, 7 AM ET
CNN Meghan ‘deeply distressed’ over child sex abuse image allegations against her estranged father Oct 23, 8 AM ET
Los Angeles Times Meghan Markle ‘deeply distressed’ over child pornography allegations against father Thomas Markle Sr. Oct 23, 7 PM ET
NBC News Meghan Markle ‘deeply distressed’ by allegations her dad possessed child sexual abuse images Oct 23, 2 PM ET
The Independent Meghan ‘deeply distressed’ by indecent image allegations against father Thomas Markle Oct 23, 7 AM ET
USA Today Meghan speaks out about child porn allegations against her dad Oct 23, 8 AM ET
Yahoo News Meghan Markle addresses allegations of child abuse images linked to her father Oct 23, 7 AM ET
BBC Meghan says she was informed about 'disturbing allegations' against her father in 2018 Oct 23, 7 AM ET
News Nation Meghan Markle calls child porn allegations against father 'deeply distressing' Oct 23, 11 AM ET
Reuters Philippines investigates Thomas Markle, father of Meghan, after child sexual abuse images claims Oct 23, 11 AM ET
The Hill Meghan Markle says she’s ‘deeply distressed’ in response to child pornography allegations against her father Oct 23, 2 PM ET
The Sun MEG DAD CHILD SEX PROBE Meghan's dad Thomas Markle probed over vast stash of child sex images after being reported to cops by his own son Oct 22, 6 PM ET
Breitbart Meghan Markle Says She Has Known About Child Porn Allegations Against Her Father Since 2018 Oct 24, 10 AM ET
Fox News Meghan Markle 'deeply distressed' over allegations against her father Oct 23, 6 PM ET
New York Post Meghan Markle revealed that 2018 child porn allegations against her father, Thomas Markle Sr., caused her to cut ties to protect her family. Oct 23, 7 AM ET
The Daily Caller Meghan Markle Issues Stunning Statement As Father Faces Child Pornography Probe Oct 23, 2 PM ET

TV, radio, and the shows that talked about it

📺 On TV

BBC News48 min

CNN21 s

Met police looking into reports of Thomas Markle letter BBC News, 11 min
Police confirm letter on Meghan's father claims BBC News, 10 min
Allegations against Duchess of Sussex's father BBC News, 8 min
Thomas Markle denies all allegations BBC News, 7 min
Philippines police investigate Markle letter claims BBC News, 6 min
Duchess responds to allegations about father BBC News, 2 min
Thomas Markle allegations BBC News, 76 s
Meghan cuts ties with father over claims BBC News, 72 s

🎙️ Shows, investigators, satire

🎙️ 🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show 🎙️ The Megyn Kelly Show

what people online made of it

🧶 Retold online

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is deeply distressed by allegations that child sexual abuse images were found at her father Thomas Markle's former home. Oct 24: told by 22 people; told before on Oct 26
🦋 Widely seen on Bluesky

🦋 a post on Bluesky · 78 likes, 23 reposts
🦋 a post on Bluesky · 3 likes, 0 reposts

On Folklore: the latest in full, with their motifs and who is telling them.

🗣️ names in it: Meghan Markle Thomas Markle Sr Royal Family Child Abuse Material Probe

what the fact-checkers looked into

🧐 No fact-checker has taken it on yet.

the running story it belongs to

🧵 Meghan Markle father abuse inquiry

Met police confirm letter about megan's father was not shared with other forces
Oct 24, 2 PM ET
Philippines investigates Meghan markle's father over child sex abuse images
Oct 25, 7 PM ET
UK police confirm receipt of letter alleging child sex abuse against megan Markle's father (this story)
Oct 23, 7 AM ET