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

Meghan, the 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 in 2018. 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 the Sun that he reported the discovery of the material to the United States’ FBI Hotline, the US National Center for Exploited and Missing Children and the state police in Pennsylvania, where his father was living at the time. 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.” Meghan said that she was made aware of allegations against her father – from whom she is estranged – eight years ago. “In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me,” she said in the statement Friday. “It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.” 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.” CNN is attempting to contact Thomas Markle Sr., Thomas Markle Jr. and Samantha Markle. CNN has reached out to the Metropolitan Police, the FBI and the Pennsylvania State Police for comment. This is a developing story and will be updated.