Meghan Markle’s estranged father Thomas Markle Snr has been charged over alleged possession of child abuse material, including images of himself with young girls.
Thomas Markle Snr, who is charged with one count of possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), is expected to appear in court in Tampa, Florida, on Friday after he was taken into custody by FBI agents on Thursday.
Meghan Markle’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jnr, alleged that he found images belonging to her father at his former home in the Philippines last month.
According to The Sun, Mr Markle Snr is alleged to have left the images in storage boxes when he moved out of the property earlier this year.
Mr Markle Jnr said he submitted a statement to police in the Philippines and told The Sun: “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.”
The newspaper reported that Mr Markle Jnr was searching for a phone for his girlfriend’s father in boxes of his own father’s belongings, which led him to discover images and videos.
In July, he reported them to the FBI Hotline, the United States’ National Centre for Exploited and Missing Children and state police in Pennsylvania, where his father was living.
FBI special agents searched two storage units registered to Markle, which he had rented since 2008, with his most recent payments on both made last month by auto-pay.
Inside the units, agents seized approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected CSAM.
An affidavit describes three of those images; two images depict an adult man – whom a witness identified as Markle – with a nude prepubescent girl.
A third image is said to show a nude young girl in a room that appears to be part of a motel chain in the Philippines.
In one of them, according to court documents, the man “appears to be in the age range of 30s to 40s”, which suggests the alleged abuse dates back decades given Markle is now 82.
If convicted, Markle would face at least 20 years in federal prison.
It emerged last month that the duchess sent a final letter to her father in 2025 while he was recovering from a leg amputation, to say she knows he is an abuser and that he will never see his grandchildren Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Markle Snr denied possessing child sex images, calling the accusations “sick lies”.
He has admitted to paying for sex in the south-east Asian country but denies ever possessing a hoard of such material.
With an investigation ongoing, Philippine interior minister Joniv Remulla told the The Guardian that it appeared Mr Markle Snr was a “possible sex offender of the grossest kind”.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that in 2019 it had passed a letter “containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom” to Meghan and Prince Harry, but did not share details with other law enforcement agencies.
The BBC and other media including the Telegraph, which said it had seen a copy, reported the note was written by Mr Markle Sr’s ex-wife, Roslyn Loveless, who has since died.
She is the mother of Mr Markle Jr and Meghan’s other half-sibling, Samantha Markle, who has defended their father, telling the Mail on Sunday: “I believe this is a set-up.”
Meghan is “upset and really frustrated” by the Met’s handling of the investigation, the Telegraph reported.
She said that she was shown a letter sent to Scotland Yard making “troubling” allegations against Mr Markle Sr and was assured that these were being investigated.
The Met is now “reviewing the handling of this matter”, including whether it needs to be referred to the police watchdog.
In 2025, Mr Markle Snr moved to the Philippines for a new life after suffering a series of strokes.
Then, in December of that year he had his leg amputated during life-saving surgery.
The Sun on Sunday reported that Meghan had written a final letter to her father during this period, telling him she knows he is an abuser and that he will never meet his grandchildren.
He has reportedly been living in a rehab centre in Florida, where he is learning to walk again.
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Mr Markle Sr said he has “never had sex with anyone under the age of 18”.
He told the paper that when he was single he travelled to the Philippines at least twice and “slept with prostitutes”.
“I like Asian women but that is not a crime,” he said. “I am not well enough to go to the Philippines but I will speak to anyone who wants to talk to me. I have nothing to hide.”
The Duchess has been estranged from her former TV lighting director father since the weeks before her wedding in 2018, after he staged and sold photographs to the paparazzi.
Meghan said in a statement: “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.”
In response to the accusations, Mr Markle Snr said: “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.”
If you are a child and you need help because something has happened to you, you can call Childline free of charge on 0800 1111. You can also call the NSPCC if you are an adult and you are worried about a child, on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adults on 0808 801 0331
