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Meghan Markle reportedly learned of “disturbing allegations” against her father, Thomas Markle, in 2018 just weeks after marrying Prince Harry.
The Duchess of Sussex told Page Six in a statement Friday that she was shown a letter initially sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection with claims about her estranged father in 2018.
She received the letter in the summer of 2018, just weeks after the royal wedding which took place in May, according to The Mirror.
In her Friday statement, the actress also revealed she cut ties with dad to “protect” her and Prince Harry’s two children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet 5.
The 45-year-old said the 2018 allegations, which she claimed she was told “were being investigated” at the time, fueled her decision to end her relationship with Thomas, and forbid him from seeing her kids.
“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 in her statement.
“I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.”
Page Six can confirm that the Cebu City Police Office in the Philippines is investigating Thomas Sr. after child sex abuse material was allegedly discovered in his home. Details of the case are currently confidential.
According to The Sun, Thomas’ son, Thomas Jr., discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in four boxes at his dad’s home in the Philippines, and reported the alleged findings to the police and the FBI.
The content allegedly included images of girls around 10-11 years old engaged in sex acts and was found in storage boxes buried among family “mementos.”
“I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years — but that stops now,” Thomas Jr. told the outlet, before declaring that he will never speak to his father again, unless he’s “called to give evidence against him.”
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