Thomas Markle Sr, the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has been arrested in Florida over allegations that he possessed child sexual abuse material, the US Justice Department said.
Federal authorities allege that material, including sexually explicit photographs of Markle with prepubescent girls, was kept in two storage units in the Los Angeles area that he had rented for almost two decades.
Markle was due to make an initial court appearance in Tampa on Friday. Bill Essayli, first assistant US attorney for the Central District of California, said: “These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law.”
Allegations against Thomas Markle Sr
An affidavit filed with the federal complaint said an investigation in the Philippines led authorities to examine the two storage units. The units had been registered to Markle since 2008, with the latest payments made by automatic billing the previous month.
FBI agents seized 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books, which were suspected of containing child sexual abuse material, the affidavit said.
Two of the images allegedly showed an adult man, identified by a witness as Markle, with a nude prepubescent girl. Another allegedly showed a nude prepubescent girl in a room that appeared to be in a motel in the Philippines.
Other photographs allegedly showed Markle with children in varying states of undress, according to the affidavit. FBI director Kash Patel said: “Mr. Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions.”
If convicted, Markle could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
The arrest follows reports last month that he was under investigation in the Philippines over alleged possession of child sexual abuse material. Markle has denied the claims, describing them as “sick lies”.
“I have never downloaded anything like that in my life,” he was quoted as saying.
Meghan’s decision to cut contact
Meghan has said she knew about the allegations against her father from 2018 and that the information had been passed to UK authorities at the time.
She said that she and Prince Harry had decided to prevent Markle from having contact with their children, Archie and Lilibet, because of those allegations.
“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.
Meghan confronted her father about the allegations in a letter delivered to him in hospital in the United States in December 2025, according to reports. She wrote that she and authorities “knew he had abused young girls” and that he would never meet her children.
Meghan, Harry and their children have recently moved back to Britain. Her spokesperson was approached for comment on the arrest, while reports said the Duchess was not expected to comment at this time.
