The Duchess of Sussex has said she is “deeply distressed” by allegations concerning her father, Thomas Markle Snr, and revealed that she was told about them in 2018.
Meghan said a letter containing “troubling and disturbing allegations” was sent to the Metropolitan Police’s Royalty and Specialist Protection unit that year and was subsequently shared with her.
Her statement came after her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jnr, alleged that he had found child sexual abuse images on computers and a mobile phone among belongings left by their father. Police in Cebu, the Philippines, have launched an investigation after the material was taken to officers.
Mr Markle, 82, has denied the allegations, describing them as “sick lies”. Speaking from a rehabilitation centre in Florida, where he is learning to walk with a prosthetic limb after the amputation of his left leg, he said: “I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of.”
Meghan said she had not allowed her father to meet her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, because she wanted to protect them.
“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,” she said.
She added: “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.”
Thomas Markle denies allegations
Mr Markle rejected his son’s account, insisting that he had never downloaded such material. “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,” he said.
Mr Markle said the computers had been boxed up in Mexico and transported to the Philippines after he moved there with his son in January 2025. He claimed he had repeatedly asked Thomas Jnr to return them, but that his son had refused.
“I don’t know who had access to the computers,” he said. “Whenever I asked Tom to bring my computers to me he refused.”
Thomas Jnr, 60, told the allegations to the FBI and the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children several days after he said he discovered the material. He later took it to police in Cebu accompanied by a journalist.
He alleged that he had been searching through four storage boxes in July for a mobile phone for his fiancée when he opened one device and saw a graphic image. He claimed that a computer later displayed a screensaver containing “hundreds” of disturbing thumbnail images and that he saw a video involving a young girl.
Mr Markle said he would welcome a forensic examination of the devices. “I have never downloaded anything like that in my life,” he said. “Never. Never. Never. I have never done that.”
He said he was “shocked”, “hurt” and “very upset” by the accusations, adding that nurses at the rehabilitation centre had carried out an electrocardiogram after his heart rate became worryingly high.
Family dispute
Mr Markle’s eldest daughter, Samantha Markle, who is his main carer in Florida, also rejected the allegations and accused her brother of making them up for money.
“There is no merit in these disgusting allegations whatsoever,” she said. “My brother first came out with these lies days after the cash from my dad was cut off.”
Samantha claimed the computers had been out of her father’s possession for two years, leaving “a lot of room for tampering”. She also accused Thomas Jnr of having a history of making claims about their father to generate income.
Mr Markle said he had supported his son financially for much of his life, but that payments stopped in July after a family member found he had been taking money from his account. He said he had not spoken to Thomas Jnr for several months.
He said he was considering legal action but was unsure how he could defend himself against allegations that could spread around the world. “I’m angry, I’m hurt and I want the world to know these are terrible lies,” he said.
Meghan has been estranged from her father since her marriage to Prince Harry in May 2018. Mr Markle was unable to walk her down the aisle after suffering two heart attacks in the days before the wedding.
She said the 2018 letter sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection had been accompanied by assurances that the allegations were being investigated.
“I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families,” she said. “My thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed.”
