The Duchess of Sussex has said she is “deeply distressed” over accusations involving child sexual abuse images against her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr, and revealed she was made aware of “disturbing allegations” against him in ۲۰۱۸ by the Metropolitan police.
Meghan issued a statement after the Sun newspaper published claims that her half-brother Thomas Markle Jr alleged he had found a stash of images belonging to their father at his former home in the Philippines.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Markle Sr denied possessing child sexual abuse images, calling the accusations “sick lies”.
It is understood that authorities in the UK previously told Meghan that allegations made about her father in a ۲۰۱۸ letter sent to Scotland Yard, and subsequently shared with her by the police, were being investigated.
Meghan was informed by the Met of the allegations in the summer shortly after her wedding, it is believed.
In a statement through her spokesperson, Meghan said: “I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last ۲۴ hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed.
“In ۲۰۱۸, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan police and Royalty and Specialist Protection [Rasp]. 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.”
The ۲۰۱۸ letter was understood to have been shared with Meghan by the Rasp unit within the Met police.
It is understood the Met has not previously investigated Markle Snr, nor is it currently doing so. The force said it was making internal inquiries regarding officers from Rasp being involved in the passing on of a letter.
A Met spokesperson said: “We are aware of media reports that officers from the Met’s royalty and specialist protection command were involved in the passing on of a letter in ۲۰۱۸. We are undertaking inquiries internally in an effort to confirm this.”
Markle Sr has been estranged from the duchess since he failed to attend her wedding to Prince Harry on health grounds, and he has never met his grandchildren Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five.
The Sun reported that Markle Jr told detectives in the Philippines he had discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sexual abuse images on computers and mobile phones stored in four large boxes at the home in Cebu where Markle Sr was living until he returned to the US in May after having a stroke.
Markle Jr, ۶۰, said he had also contacted the FBI in the US, the Sun reported.
The undersecretary for the Philippines’ justice department, Nicholas Ty, told the BBC the matter was being investigated by a human trafficking and child sexual exploitation taskforce in Cebu.
The interior secretary, Jonvic Remulla, separately told the BBC that national police had secured Markle Sr’s computer to conduct a comprehensive digital forensic examination. Remulla said it would take “one week to get the forensic [results]”.
Meghan’s father has denied possessing child sexual abuse images, telling the Daily Mail that the accusations were “sick lies”.
He told the newspaper that the computers had not been in his possession since he left Rosarito, Mexico, with his son in January ۲۰۲۵ and moved to the Philippines “for a fresh start”.
Speaking from a rehabilitation centre in Florida, where he is learning to walk with a prosthetic limb after his left leg was amputated because of a blood clot, he told the 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 bullshit. It’s just a bunch of lies. It’s sick. I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies.”
Meghan’s half-sister Samantha Markle has defended their father, accusing her brother Markle Jr of “making up lies” to make money.
She told the Mail: “There is no merit in these disgusting allegations whatsoever and my brother is disgusting for making them up. He wants to destroy our dad. Shame on him.”
She alleged her brother made the allegations days after their father cut off his funds, “and once the money stopped he made up the most outrageous lies he could to make money from the media”.
She alleged the computers were not in her father’s possession for two years and he could have been set up. “That leaves a lot of room for tampering,” she said.
