Meghan Markle says she was warned about troubling allegations against her father, Thomas Markle, as far back as 2018. The Duchess of Sussex released a statement Friday, Oct. 23, after The Sun reported that her half brother, Thomas Markle Jr., found what he described as child sexual abuse images at their father’s former home in Cebu, Philippines, and reported him to authorities. Thomas Markle Sr., 82, denies the allegations and has called them a bunch of lies.
Meghan said a letter outlining allegations against her father was sent to London’s Metropolitan Police and its Royalty and Specialist Protection unit in 2018, then shared with her. She said that letter is why she kept her distance and never let him near her children. Her explanation was plain. It was to protect them.
What are the allegations against Meghan Markle’s father?
Markle Jr. told The Sun he found the material in storage boxes and on computer hard drives. He said he also reported it to the FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Pennsylvania State Police. Philippine state media confirmed in a Facebook post Friday that an investigation was underway. Philippines Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla told the BBC that police secured Markle Sr.’s computer for a forensic examination, with results expected in about a week. The FBI said it will support Philippine authorities and investigate any related violations of U.S. law.
Markle Sr. told the Daily Mail the computers had been out of his possession for some time. His daughter Samantha Markle said other people could have accessed them. He is recovering at a Florida rehabilitation center after his leg was amputated in December 2025. None of the reports indicate charges have been filed.
Why does the 2018 letter matter now?
Here is the part few people are sitting with. For eight years, much of the British press framed Meghan as the daughter who froze out her ailing dad. He gave interview after interview about being shut out. Meghan stayed quiet. Sources close to the Sussexes told the BBC she could not speak publicly without risking any future investigation.
Yet the BBC reports it is understood the Met has never investigated Markle Sr. The force is now running an internal inquiry just to confirm its royal protection officers passed the letter along. That means Meghan may have carried a secret for years on behalf of a London investigation that, by those accounts, never existed. That is a question the Met now has to answer.
How does this change the story of Meghan Markle and her father?
The estrangement dates to her 2018 wedding, when Markle Sr. was caught staging paparazzi photos and pulled out citing health problems. King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, walked Meghan down the aisle.
Even so, Meghan sent her father a handwritten letter while he recovered from his amputation in a Philippine hospital last December. Protecting her children and showing compassion to a sick parent lived in the same person. Black women know that balance well, and they know how often only one half of it makes the headlines. Back in 2016, Kensington Palace publicly called out the racial undertones in coverage of Meghan. The cold daughter label slid neatly into that pattern.
What happens next?
Forensic results in the Philippines could arrive within a week. Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield told Page Six she does not expect Buckingham Palace to respond. Meghan, Prince Harry and their two children returned to the U.K. in August after six years in the U.S., and their spokesperson has denied her father’s situation played any role in that move.
For now, the allegations remain unproven, Markle Sr. maintains his innocence and the investigation continues.
