India McTaggart
The Duchess of Sussex has said she knew about allegations against her estranged father in 2018, after it emerged that he was being investigated by police for allegedly possessing child sex abuse images.
Thomas Markle, who lives in the Philippines, is alleged to have an extensive collection of illegal material that was reportedly discovered by Thomas Markle jnr, the duchess’s half-brother.
In a statement on Friday, the duchess 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.
“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.”
Sources close to the Sussexes told The Telegraph that the Royalty and Specialist Protection Unit within the Metropolitan Police shared the letter with the duchess, and she was assured that UK authorities were pursuing the investigation.
The Telegraph understands the letter was sent to the duchess in the summer of 2018, after her wedding to Prince Harry in May.
According to The Sun, Markle snr kept “hundreds, if not thousands” of underage sexual images in four large boxes that had been mixed up with family mementos at his home in the city of Cebu.
Police in the Philippines are reportedly preparing to seize the evidence, and the FBI is said to be looking into opening an investigation in the US, where 82-year-old Markle snr resided after having a leg amputation last year.
Markle jnr, 60, has submitted a sworn 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.”
On Friday, Markle snr denied the allegations, telling The Daily 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.”
The Sun’s report said that Markle jnr, who has been his father’s carer since he suffered a life-threatening stroke in 2022, had told friends he had been left a “shaking wreck” by the discovery.
“I knew right away it was highly illegal and would land me in jail for a long time if I didn’t get rid of it. I felt betrayed, angry and disgusted, and realised I had to report him,” he said.
He is said to have reported his discovery to the FBI Hotline and the US-based National Centre for Exploited and Missing Children in July, as well as to the state police in Pennsylvania, where his father was living.
Markle jnr said that among old family home videos, books and mobile phones, he found “old books that turned out to be full of naked little girls”.
After enlisting a local IT expert to access the computer hard drives he found, Markle jnr said: “His desktop was full of row upon row of thumbnail pictures linking to the most sickening child abuse imaginable. The worst of the worst.”
Details of the found documents allegedly included film negatives showing naked schoolgirls and “vile images” on the same hard drive as some of Markle’s work files and “core accomplishments”, including his professional CV and a download of the duchess addressing a women’s event at the United Nations.
Markle’s daughter, Samantha Markle, denied the allegations and accused her brother of inventing the story.
Speaking to The Daily Mail, she said: “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.”
It was reported last year that the duchess, 45, has no plans to see her estranged father again. Markle and the duchess’s mother, Doria Ragland, divorced when the duchess was six.
The pair have not spoken since 2018, when he worked with a paparazzi photographer near his home in Mexico to stage pictures of him being fitted for a suit before his daughter’s wedding.
He has never met the Duke of Sussex, Prince Archie or Princess Lilibet. Writing in his memoir, Spare, Prince Harry said his wife was “mourning” the loss of her father.
Markle has struggled with poor health, suffering two heart attacks on the eve of the duchess’s 2018 wedding, which prevented him from flying to the UK. In his absence, the King, then Prince of Wales, gave Meghan away.
In December last year, his left leg was amputated below the knee during surgery to remove a blood clot, which left him “fighting for his life” at the time.
In August 2018, the duchess wrote begging her father to stop talking to the media, with extracts later published in The Mail on Sunday.
The duchess remains close to her 70-year-old mother, who lives in California and would regularly visit the Sussexes’ home in Montecito before the couple relocated back to the UK with their two children.
The Telegraph, London
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.
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