Meghan ‘deeply distressed’ over child sex abuse image allegations against father

By Max Foster, Kathleen Magramo, CNN

London (CNN) — Meghan, Duchess of Sussex said Friday she was “deeply distressed” by a report that her father had a large collection of images depicting child sex abuse and revealed she had been told of “disturbing allegations” against him several years ago.

Britain’s The Sun newspaper reported late Thursday that the son of Thomas Markle said he had uncovered a stash of indecent images of underage children at his father’s house in the Philippines and reported him to authorities in that country.

Thomas Markle Sr. has denied the allegations.

In an interview with The Sun, Thomas Markle Jr. said: “When I found this material I was horrified and I had no option but to report my dad.” The Sun reports that Markle Jr. told Philippine officials that he had discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of images of child sex abuse at his father’s house, and that the images were found in storage boxes and computer hard drives.

The Philippines Justice Department’s child abuse unit told CNN on Friday that the matter was “under investigation.”

Markle Jr. also told The Sun that he reported the discovery of the material to the FBI hotline, as well as the US National Center for Exploited and Missing Children, and the state police in Pennsylvania, where his father was living at the time.

The FBI said it is aware of the allegations around Markle Sr. – who is a US citizen – and told CNN that it will “provide support, as appropriate, to the Philippine authorities,” adding, “We will also investigate any related allegations of federal violations of U.S. law.”

In a statement on Friday, Meghan said: “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.”

Thomas Markle Sr. has vigorously denied the allegations, telling Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper they were “a bunch of lies” and saying the computers had not been in his possession since he left Mexico with his son in 2025.

“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,” Markle Sr. told the Mail, which said it had spoken to him from a rehabilitation center in Florida, where the paper said he was learning to walk with a prosthetic limb after his leg was amputated last year due to a blood clot.

Thomas Markle Sr.’s other daughter, Samantha Markle, told the Mail that the allegations were not true and that her brother had made them up. Samantha Markle also said that her dad “had no access to those computers for two years,” arguing that other people “could have had access to them.”

On Friday, Meghan said that she was made aware of allegations against her father – from whom she is estranged – eight years ago. In a statement, she said she was shown a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection which made “troubling and disturbing allegations” against her father. “I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” she said.

It is not clear what specific allegations Meghan was referring to in the letter.

“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,” Meghan said.

“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.”

A spokesperson for the duchess clarified on Saturday that Meghan “may have been mistaken by a few months” after the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) confirmed a letter had been passed to the Sussexes several years ago, but details “were not shared with other law enforcement agencies.”

“Following a thorough review of Met Police systems and records, we have confirmed that in January 2019, we received a letter containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom. It was sent to the MPS Protection Command to raise concerns in relation to the security of the Duchess of Sussex,” a spokesperson for the force said.

“The letter was reviewed and a decision was made that it should be passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies.”

The spokesperson added: “The MPS is reviewing the handling of this matter in 2019 and considering whether a referral to the IOPC is necessary to review our approach.”

CNN is attempting to contact Thomas Markle Sr., Thomas Markle Jr. and Samantha Markle. CNN has reached out to the Pennsylvania State Police for comment.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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CNN’s Nic Robertson and Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed to this story.