Last week, The Telegraph broke the story about Roslyn Loveless offering to give more information to Scotland Yard in 2018/19. Apparently, Roslyn’s letter to Scotland Yard more detailed information about Thomas Markle, and the entire British police force just decided to ignore her offer. And then the same police force “lost” the letter, apparently not realizing that the Duchess of Sussex keeps receipts. Within that Telegraph story, this curious passage appeared: “The letter was passed from royal protection officers to what at the time was the joint office of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Kensington Palace, The Telegraph understands, which suggests that the wider royal household was aware of its contents.” The Mail’s Richard Eden basically said the same thing one day before, that it would have been unthinkable that Loveless’s letter wasn’t also shared with Prince William and Kate, not to mention their senior staffers and royal protection unit. So basically, William and Kate have (arguably) known about Thomas Markle’s perversions since January 2019. When will people start asking them what they knew and when? Not any time soon, if Tom Sykes has his way.
When the news broke last week that Thomas Markle had been accused of hoarding a stash of child sex abuse material, a certain kind of comment piece went round the, ahem, progressive end of the media almost instantly. The headlines were all variations on the same theme: how long before Meghan’s father allegedly hoarding p–phile material turned out to be “Meghan’s fault?” Not long, was the implication, if the wicked tabloids had anything to do with it.
A week on, there is an alternative spin on offer, and it is coming from the Sussexes’ new house magazine, The Telegraph, and what it looks very much like, to my eye, is Meghan’s side trying to lump at least some of the blame for what happened to that letter onto William and Catherine.
The same double standard runs through everything. In February 2020 they announced that by giving up public funds they had removed the “supposed ‘public interest’ justification for media intrusion.” In September this year their office issued a media advisory headed “PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX SEPTEMBER PUBLIC ENGAGEMENTS,” and their friends briefed that they are public figures, not private citizens. They are whichever suits the day. And so it is with the letter: private when it protects her, public when it convicts the press, and now, apparently, a matter for the wider royal household when the question turns to who sat on it.
I find the choice of vehicle fascinating. This is The Telegraph that last week fired around 100 staff as its new owner, Axel Springer (which bought the paper in June for £575 million), announced its intention to turn it into a “global, AI-powered premium media and intelligence business.” I called that a Slopbait factory in a Substack Note last night, and I stand by the coinage (neologisms are what Substack is for). Any tidbit about Harry and Meghan drives traffic, and what we appear to be watching is a paper abandoning basic journalistic principles and taking what it is fed on trust from a team that has been shown, again and again, to be highly manipulative and to say things that are not true when it suits them.
Basically, the girls are fighting. Royalist vs. royalist, royal reporter vs. royal reporter, tabloid vs. tabloid. An internecine British media war which might turn up something interesting. While I think Sykes is correct (in a limited way) that Team Sussex is letting everyone know that William and Kate were informed of Loveless’s letter, that theory has been widely assumed for the past week. Multiple royal reporters have openly speculated that not only did William and Kate know, but that Clarence House and Buckingham Palace were likely informed as well. Meaning, at the time, then-Prince Charles’s office and QEII’s office.
The reason all of this “did they know” speculation is so damning for William and Kate in particular is because their right-hand man Jason Knauf helped the Daily Mail and Thomas Markle when Meghan sued the Mail. Knauf bent over backwards to not only aid the Mail, but to justify Thomas Markle’s campaign of abuse against Meghan.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to the National Federation of Women’s Institute (WI) in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to mark the third anniversary Queen Elizabeth II’s death Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales, William, Prince of Wales Where: Sunningdale, United Kingdom When: 08 Sep 2025 Credit: Alastair Grant/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- EMBARGOED UNTIL 2100BST – Chief Executive of the Royal Foundation Jason Knauf holds a speech as he attends the first ever Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at Alexandra Palace in London on Sunday 17th Oct, 2021. Created by Prince William and The Royal Foundation, The Earthshot Prize has led an unprecedented global search for the most inspiring and innovative solutions to the greatest environmental challenges facing the planet.,Image: 638402769, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Alberto Pezzali / Avalon
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- Britain’s Kate and Prince William listen as they visit the National Federation of Women’s Institute (WI) to commemorate the three-year anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II in Sunningdale, England, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025.,Image: 1035282569, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Alastair Grant/Avalon
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- London, UK, 16th Sep 2025. Prince William and Princess Catherine. HRH King Charles III, The Prince and Princess of Wales Prince William and Princess Catherine, and other senior members of the Royal Family. The coffin is carried to the hearse. Mourners, including members of the Royal Family, are seen paying their respects as the coffin is carried out and into the hears, then departing from Westminster Cathedral after the a requiem mass, a Catholic funeral service held for the Duchess of Kent, who passed away on 4 Sep.,Image: 1037872299, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Imageplotter/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales arrives for a visit to Swiss Valley Community Primary School in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, to meet pupils who took part in the 2024 Urdd Eisteddfod Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Llanelli, United Kingdom When: 10 Sep 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Concert celebrating the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, held at the historic Horse Guards Parade Featuring: Prince William, Catherine Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2025 Credit: Toby Melville/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales, known as the the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay when in Scotland, attend the naming ceremony for HMS Glasgow, at the BAE Systems shipyard in Scotstoun, Glasgow Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales, William, Prince of Wales Where: Glasgow, United Kingdom When: 22 May 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- King Charles III leads senior members of The Royal Family during Trooping the Colour 2025 Featuring: Catherine Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 17 Jun 2025 Credit: John Rainford/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UK**
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- Members of the British royal family during a reception at Buckingham Palace in London, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth Featuring: (Left to right) The Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, the Princess of Wales, the Prince of Wales, King Charles III, Queen Camilla, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Alexandra and the Duchess of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace in London, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth Where: London, United Kingdom When: 21 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales speaks at the Earthshot Prize Impact Assembly at the Guildhall in central London, during London Climate Action Week Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 23 Jun 2026 Credit: Jordan Pettitt/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales speaks at the Earthshot Prize Impact Assembly at the Guildhall in central London, during London Climate Action Week Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 23 Jun 2026 Credit: Jordan Pettitt/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales joins cricketing stars from the UK and India at a special Earthshot Prize event on The Mall, in London, to celebrate ties between the two nations ahead of the Earthshot Prize Summit and Awards Night in Mumbai in November Featuring: Prince William Where: London, United Kingdom When: 13 Oct 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
Surely Sykes knows that “publicly funded royal” is not the same as “public figure,” but he really loves to pretend he doesn’t. Idris Elba is a public figure, Boris Johnson is a public figure, Simon Le Bon and Allison Hammond are public figures. Only Johnson is or has been directly funded by the public, and none of those folks are royal. Good grief.
💯 @ciotog!
And also…how he takes pains to note *his* new terminology “slopbait”, created on *his* substack, how thirsty and pathetic.
Here’s my very own neologism for Mr. Sykes, pathirsty. Everyone take note that I, Noo created it here first. 🤣🤣🤣
I’m really worried for Meghan – she does not deserve this. I’ve said this before but the Sussexes need to expose Will and Kate in a big way. This is the worst smear campaign I have ever seen with no end in sight. How can one person take all this? It just makes me so sad.
This is just an unimaginable horror for her. And being in the UK while it unfolds can’t be great. I wonder if Doria is secretly in town to help support her. But this is so much bigger than Meghan now. If the BRF has knowledge of and suppressed information about what may have been an active production of this material (I can’t type the words) in 2019 while Tom was still in Mexico, this needs to be outed.
If William and Kate knew this would have been leaked years ago. If Charles knew it would have been used as a hedge to protect Andrew. The BRF would have absolutely leveraged this to what they perceived as an advantage.
It was leveraged by William, Kate and Charles they gave the press permission to attack Meghan using her father. There’s no way they didn’t know before Meghan because the heirachial system meant that everything was run through BP and William and Kate before it got to Meghan.
I agree , the mud they have thrown at Megan is beyond anything l have ever seen in the media, lm not goin to blame the papers fully here but definitely someone somewhere needs to start talking about this Wales duo and of course they knew, they have the best security in the World for God’s sake, fair play to de Sussex team if it was me l would be leaking like a sieve !!!
If Harry and Meghan’s decision to start engaging with some of the British media is causing this much unrest, I am glad they are doing it. As for Kensington Palace’s knowledge of the letter, for the gossip value of it alone makes me certain that they knew. The courtiers and their media handlers survive on gossip and this was one juicy piece of info. They knew and used it to blackmail TM and use him to torment Meghan, I am sure of it. After the plan to stop the wedding failed, they must have thought how lucky they were to have this kind of leverage. They might have even congratulated themselves how brilliant their plan was.
Axel Springer makes Rupert Murdoch look like a moderate. The Telegraph is no longer their friend.
Sykes is the one running “the slopbait factory”. He is also the one changing narratives to suit the moment. He openly admits that someone “sat on” the letter. In other words, someone covered it up by preventing law enforcement from investigating its contents. Meghan had no such power. Knauf and W&K did. Tom Sykes can’t spin away the fact that no action was taken to protect vulnerable children when a warning was given. And all evidence of the warning disappeared after the royals had access to it.
I thought that was surprising, too, that Sykes would admit that someone must have “sat on” the letter. Because Meghan certainly didn’t have that power! In my opinion, it would have to have been a senior royal: Charles. William. Or The Queen.
Meghan has kept receipts and she was very much working member of RF when said letter was delivered to the joint office. She was a member of the royal house and pregnant with her first child so entitled to full support and protection. This wasn’t just a private matter between Meghan and the Met . A lot of royal courtiers and members of the family knew about THAT letter up to and including the late Queen.
The RF and Firm have Questions to answer here.
Meghan ‘s tenure with them has received the Zapruder treatment through out from tights to nail vanish. Please don’t gaslight us again that only Meghan KNEW about that letter!
Curious if they did know what should they have done? What would the expectation be here? Should they have gone to police and demand that the British police conduct an investigation on a man who doesn’t live there and no children were harmed in their country. Should they have personally taken the letter to the FBI? Does Meghan have any agency in this? Like what is the point to this briefing? And if they had done something and he turned out innocent can you imagine what Meghan would have said? Probably something like they were so awful they even tried to have her father arrested. No one can win with this whole story. I am even sure why she mentioned the letter in the first place. Who is all this helping? Harry and Meghan? My goodness the constant drama around them is just too much. You can see why the William wants them gone for when he becomes King.
@Cindy nope. It’s all right here in plain sight from 2019: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-family/article/a-royal-rift-j3cft5d3d. “ This sense of embattlement has been entrenched by William’s decision to reach out to senior figures in the media as he prepares for kingship and by the apparent decision of those same newspapers to side with the palace over Meghan and Harry by peddling the most negative coverage of the duchess’s relationship with her father, Thomas Markle. “Harry sees that as part of the headwinds against him,” a friend said.”
Troll.
Yes, I know she has posted here before (since the Thomas Markle news broke at any rate). But these repetitive deranger-like “rhetorical” questions are just trollish at this point. The questions have been asked and answered numerous times and this post just seems designed to provoke an argument for argument’s sake. Posters like this one seem to have gone off the deep end the minute the world began to realise that William and Kate in particular knew damn well that the letter existed from the get-go.
What they should have done is not prevent the Met from following proper protocol to inform the relevant jurisdictions about this information. Because clearly someone did and the royals certainly have the authority to tell the Met to disappear the letter and pretend they never had it. Or even saw it.
@Cindy: Meghan had no agency as a working royal that’s why they tried by splitting from KP and then proposed the half in model. It was really for Meghan to get out of that system.
What should the royals have done? They should have avoided interfering with law enforcement. Nobody believes that the letter with allegations against Thomas Markle was actually lost, even the rota.
The referrals to other law enforcement agencies that are happening now come six years later than they could have – that’s six years where children could have been protected, but weren’t.
The royals could also have told their pals at the Daily Mail that continuing to spotlight Thomas Markle and pay him for interviews was a bad idea. The money that he got for bashing his own daughter may have been used to further his crimes and move somewhere he thought was safe from scrutiny.
And since we’re on the subject, the royals could stop protecting Andrew, too – paying off his victims, making sure he doesn’t get investigated, and keeping him away from having to provide information to authorities. He’s in a cushy estate when he should be in a cell.
So those are a few ideas – pick your favourite!
This is @Cindy, wow. Those are some serious troll talking points. Did Jason dictate them to you? Or is “Cindy” a pseudonym like “Maureen” for when Jason needs to post like Richard Eden in virtual drag, as one of us ladies? I’m having mental flashbacks of Little Britain & the “Ladies” sketch. 😂😆
The left-over royals absolutely deserve each other and I’m so glad that the Sussex’s are no longer “senior working royals” or dependent on that horrible family any longer. Also, I’m loving the meltdowns of the royal reporters.
The bigotry, misogyny and overwhelming malignant scapegoating of Meghan to distract and deflect attention away from the scandals engulfing the monarchy is sadistic and outright evil.
https://www.tiktok.com/@ministry_of_hacks/video/7703135429490511137?
https://www.tiktok.com/@ministry_of_hacks/video/7703136943848164641?
That TikTok is 🔥 I hope he’s right that this is about to become very uncomfortable for KC. Like the magnitude of pedophilia now being linked to the BRF is crazy. Even if there’s nothing they could have done with that letter (we have not established that) if they were involved in concealing it *while* dealing with the Andrew fallout, the stain on their name is permanent. BRF = paedo deniers/protectors etc.
The scooters created their own dramas. Not everyone buys their spin
There’s nothing curious about that passage: it is the truth. There was no “Office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex” at that time and the letter had indeed been passed to “the office of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Kensington Palace”, which would have been protocol, after which the principals – FIRST the supposed “boss”, William, which would have meant that Kate knew before Meghan – and then the Sussexes.
This unacknowledged “correction” has nothing to with Harry and Meghan “briefing” anything and much more to do with British reporters trying to act “neutral” because they were being called out left and right for repeatedly paying Thomas Markle to harass, smear and abuse his daughter on their platforms and incite hatred against her, AND for conveniently forgetting that the Sussexes did not establish their own office until well after that letter would have reached the palace(s). They had to admit that William and Kate had known all along despite their denials, but they buried this at the end of the article instead of calling out the obvious. And now that it is out in the open that they lied about not having known about the letter, the same reporters are now helping William and Kate to play their favourite role: victim. And of course, they are positioning the actual victim as the aggressor, because they cannot help themselves.
Again: SEO does not recognise rhetorical questions or sarcasm. It takes headlines and presents them as facts which people look at and absorb almost reflexively, nothwithstanding their own prejudices. It’s one of the reasons why the smear campaign against Meghan took root and spread so successfully to far-flung places, even among people who claim to not follow the royals, and sadly, also among people who are fans.
“a certain kind of comment piece went round the, ahem, progressive end of the media almost instantly” Aw, Sykes, you old flatterer. I always knew you were a CB lurker.
The real problem, of course, is that Kensington Palace are clowns who almost immediately tried to get in front of this story insisting that they knew “nothing about it”. Which is odd enough, but now they are stuck with that story as more and more gets revealed, their allies in the media are big mad, and given the precedents set by Andrew, nobody believes that the letter with allegations against Markle was truly “lost”. They are scrambling, and so their one move is to try to blame Meghan ( for what? Surely people who “knew nothing” have nothing to fear?)
The Sussexes don’t have to brief anyone about this. It was an obvious conclusion as soon as Scotland Yard said this was a security issue.
I mean it’s common sense that the Palace knew about this since 2019. The police would not have approached Meghan with letter first, they would have spoken to the courtiers and Tom Sykes knows this. Given that at the time Harry and Meghan were under KP and had no autonomy, there’s no way that William and Jason Knauf didn’t know about the allegations. According to Harry everything he did had to be approved by William so it stands to reason that William and Kate were told about the letter before Meghan. Let’s not also forget the Palace and Waleses didn’t talk directly to Meghan they sent messages through Harry or his Private Secretary as we saw with the concerns about Archie’s skin colour. Considering that Harry is hungry for reconciliation I have my doubts that his team is implicating KP, it’s just a fact that KP would have been involved because that’s how the Palace system operates.
I thought the offices had already split by then. If not, and William and Kate were made aware, then I really wonder if it’s the Kensington Palace office that told The Met to” lose” the letter. If so, this could really expose the whole damn smear campaign at some point.
Still I find it hard to believe that if William and Kate knew that they wouldn’t use this info as a cudgel. What did they gain by keeping it private?
No their offices split just before Archie was born around March or April. In January 2019 they were still under mercy of KP. That means anything had to do with Meghan went through William and Jason Knauf first.
So what was the bigger plan then? What stopped Jason, William and Kate from leaking this news?
KP and BP should panic. Their useful idiot Toxic Tom is being investigated for CSAM in three non Commonweath countries. And they shouldn’t rely on Trump’s infautation with the BRF to save them in the US end. The Orange Menace will throw them under the bus if he senses the Windsors will drag him down with them.
Anyone who thinks the senior royals were completely unaware of what was happening with Meghan is being remarkably naive or they’re lying.
The protection officers were the ones who brought the letter to Meghan’s attention. Are we seriously supposed to believe that information travelled through the official security apparatus, reached Meghan, and somehow nobody in the wider royal establishment knew anything about it? Who are they kidding with this bullshit?
At the time, the Sussexes and Cambridges still shared household infrastructure. They had overlapping staff and established communication channels. Jason Knauf, for example, had worked across both households and had a particularly close relationship with William. Are we supposed to believe Knauf didn’t tell William? Please!
Some of us weren’t born yesterday.