The Duchess of Sussex has said she is “deeply distressed” by allegations involving images of child sexual abuse against her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr, and revealed that the Metropolitan Police informed her of “disturbing allegations” against him in 2018. Meghan issued a statement after the Sun newspaper published claims that her half-brother Thomas Markle Jr alleged he had found a cache of images belonging to their father at their former home in the Philippines. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Markle Sr. denied possessing images of child sexual abuse and called the allegations “sick lies.” It is understood that UK authorities had previously told Meghan that allegations made about her father in a 2018 letter sent to Scotland Yard, and subsequently shared with her by police, were being investigated. The Met is believed to have informed Meghan of the “disturbing and disturbing” allegations in the summer, shortly after their wedding. In a statement through her spokesperson, Meghan said: “I am deeply distressed by the news that has emerged in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with the children who may have been harmed. “In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royal and Special Protection. That letter was later shared with me. He made worrying and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that they were being investigated. “I hope it can now be understood that, despite the distortion of certain media publications over the years, any distance from my father, and my decision not to allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them. “I trusted that the authorities were doing the same with other families. “While the extent of what has now been discovered is more sickening than one could imagine, my sincere hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.” The 2018 letter was understood to have been shared with Meghan by the royals and the specialist protection unit within the Met police. Markle Sr. has been estranged from the duchess since he skipped her wedding to Prince Harry for health reasons, and has never met her grandchildren, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five. The Sun reported that Markle Jr told detectives in the Philippines that he had discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sexual abuse images on computers and mobile phones stored in four large boxes in the house in Cebu where Markle Sr lived until he returned to the US in May after suffering a stroke. Markle Jr, 60, said he had also contacted the FBI in the US, the Sun reported. Meghan’s father has vehemently denied possessing images of child sexual abuse and told the Daily Mail the allegations were “sick lies.” Mexico, with her son in January 2025 and moved to the Philippines “for a new beginning.” Speaking from a rehab center in Florida, where he is learning to walk with a prosthesis after having his left leg amputated due to a blood clot, he told the Mail: “I am shocked, hurt and very upset that my son is making these accusations against me. I could never do what they accuse me of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of.”This is bullshit. They’re just a bunch of lies. It’s sick. I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies.”
