👣 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 24, 1 PM ETfirst on TV: BBC News
📰Oct 24, 2 PM ETfirst on a front page: The Sun
📈Oct 24, 4 PM ETpeak: on 7 front pages
🧶Oct 25, 4 AM ETretold online by 16 people
📰 Spread
the front pages that ran it, hour by hour
Front pages carrying it at each hourly run, Oct 24, 2 PM to Oct 25, 8 PM ET (peak 5), by the outlets' lean:
left · center · rightWho 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.
💬 quoted: “late first wife sent Met letter warning of child sex abuse”“disturbing”“first wife sent Met letter warning of child sex abuse”“child sex abuse”“reviewing handling”
✏️ 3 outlets ran more than one headline on it (reworded, or a follow-up)
New York Post (2 wordings): “Police confirm if Meghan Markle was sent bombshell letter accusing dad Thomas of child sex abuse” → “Red flags Thomas Markle’s ex-wife sent 2019 letter shared with Meghan warning of his alleged child abuse: sources”
The Guardian (2 wordings): “Scotland Yard says it shared allegations about Meghan’s father with her but not other forces” → “Met says it shared allegations about Meghan’s father with her but not other forces”
The Sun (2 wordings): “LETTER PROBE UK cops ‘reviewing handling’ of note sent to Meg about dad’s ‘child sex abuse’ SCOTLAND Yard has referred itself to the police watchdog over the letter, which allegedly detailed accusations against Thomas Markle Snr, 82.” → “LETTER CLAIM Thomas Markle’s 'first wife sent Met letter warning of child sex abuse' before Meghan learned of 'disturbing' claims”
Every outlet's first headline (5), left to right by AllSides rating
The Metropolitan Police received and forwarded a letter containing allegations against Thomas Markle Sr. to the Duchess of Sussex. Oct 25: told by 16 people
The Guardian
Scotland Yard says it shared allegations about Meghan’s father with her but not other forces Oct 24, 10 AM ET
The Independent
UK police admits it did not pass claims about Meghan’s father Thomas Markle to other authorities Oct 24, 9 AM ET
BBC
Met Police says letter with claims about Meghan's father not shared with other law enforcement Oct 24, 9 AM ET
The Sun
LETTER PROBE UK cops ‘reviewing handling’ of note sent to Meg about dad’s ‘child sex abuse’ SCOTLAND Yard has referred itself to the police watchdog over the letter, which allegedly detailed accusations against Thomas Markle Snr, 82. Oct 24, 2 PM ET
New York Post
Police confirm if Meghan Markle was sent bombshell letter accusing dad Thomas of child sex abuse Oct 24, 10 AM ET