Thomas Markle Sr is being investigated by police for the possession of child abuse images, it has been reported.
Meghan Markle has said she is “deeply distressed” by allegations that child abuse images were found at her estranged father’s home. Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., alleged that he had found a stash of images belonging to her father, Thomas Markle Sr, at his former home in the Philippines and reported it to the police, the Sun reported.
Mr Markle has since denied possessing any such images and said he has “no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies”.
In a statement on Friday, Meghan said she was informed about “disturbing allegations” about her father in 2018 and that she hopes people will now understand why she distanced herself from him.
She said: “I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed. In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me.
“It 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. I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.
“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.”
Sources said that the Royalty and Specialist Protection Unit within the Metropolitan Police shared the letter with the Duchess, and she was assured that UK authorities were pursuing the investigation. It is understood that the letter was sent to Meghan in the summer of 2018, after her wedding to Prince Harry in May.
Buckingham Palace said the issue was for the Sussex household, and refused to confirm whether the late Queen Elizabeth II or then Prince Charles were made aware of the letter at the time.
It is understood that the Metropolitan Police has not, and is not currently, investigating Thomas Markle Sr, and that officers are carrying out an internal inquiry to confirm whether the royal protection unit passed on a 2018 letter to the Duchess.
According to The Sun, Mr Markle Sr kept “hundreds, if not thousands” of underage sexual images in four large boxes that had been mixed up with family keepsakes at his home in the city of Cebu.
His son alleges to have found documents, including film negatives showing naked schoolgirls and “vile images” on the same hard drive as some of Mr Markle’s work files and “core accomplishments”, such as his professional CV and a download of the Duchess addressing a women’s event at the United Nations.
Mr Markle Jr, 60, has submitted a sworn statement to child abuse police in the Philippines, and told the publication: “When I found this material I was horrified and I had no option but to report my dad. I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years – but that stops now. I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him.”
Meghan’s father has since denied the allegations, telling the Daily Mail: “I’m shocked, I’m hurt and I’m very upset that my son is making these accusations against me. I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of.
“This is bulls****. It’s just a bunch of lies. It’s sick. I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies.”
Police in the Philippines are understood to have seized his computer to conduct a comprehensive digital forensic examination, and the FBI is said to be looking into opening an investigation in the US, where Meghan’s father, 82, resided after having a leg amputation last year. It is expected to take investigators a week to analyse the date and determine the full scope and extent of his alleged crimes.
The Undersecretary for the Philippines Department of Justice, Nicholas Ty, told the BBC that “the matter is currently being investigated” by an anti-human trafficking and child sexual exploitation task force in Cebu.
Mr Markle Sr’s daughter, Samantha Markle, denied the allegations and accused her brother of inventing the story.
Meghan’s half-brother, who has been his father’s carer since he suffered a life-threatening stroke in 2022, told friends he had been left a “shaking wreck” by the discovery. He is said to have reported the photographs to the FBI Hotline, the US-based National Centre for Exploited and Missing Children, in July, as well as to the state police in Pennsylvania, where his father was living.
Meghan became estranged from her former TV lighting director father in the run-up to her 2018 royal wedding after he was caught staging paparazzi photographs. Mr Markle Sr did not attend the wedding, leaving the King to walk Meghan down the aisle and meaning the only member of her family present was her mother, Doria Ragland.
The Duchess was the only child of Mr Markle’s marriage to Ms Ragland, which ended in divorce in 1987, though he has two children – Samantha Markle and Thomas Jr – from an earlier marriage.
Her statement on Friday provides fresh light on why Meghan’s father has never met her husband or children.
In his memoir, Spare, The Duke of Sussex said his wife was “mourning” the loss of her father. Meghan remains close with her mother, Doria Ragland, who divorced Mr Markle Sr in 1987 – when the Duchess was six.
The 81-year-old has struggled with poor health in recent years, suffering two heart attacks on the eve of Meghan’s wedding, and in December last year, his left leg was amputated below the knee during surgery to remove a blood clot.
At the time, a spokesperson for the Duchess said she had attempted to contact her father as he was thought to be in a life-threatening condition. She sent him a letter after the procedure and he is now thought to be living in a rehabilitation centre in Florida.